The Forgotten
by Kiki1770
Summary: Post Max. A betrayal leads to Max running away and wiping her memories. Now the Flock wants her back, but she's changed. That doesn't stop two birdboys fighting for her love. Will Max choose the right birdboy or will she fall victim to an old enemy? One mistake, two choices, three fates. Featuring Nice Max, Iggy/Max/Fang. CH1 edited. Pretty Canon, with dramatic ending. Review :)
1. The Red Headed Wonder

**Hello to all my previous "Forgotten" fans, this is the updated version of Chapter One: The Red Haired-Wonder. Please keep in mind, that chapters 2-7 have not yet been updated since my two year time gap of writing this story.**

**03/15/13**

**Chapter 1: The Red Haired-Wonder**

Chapter 1 re-writeSix months, six months of peace . . . it was unreal! In fact it was complete insanity. Yes I realize I'm being completely paranoid, but after being hunted all my life, a normal day is the WIERDEST possible thing that could EVER happen. Hunted? What the he-double hockey sticks- is going on here?

Okay, quick recap. My name is Maximum Ride. Yes, yes I did name myself. I am 98% human and 2% bird. I have wings, I can fly. You get the picture? There are five others like me. There's Fang, my current and emo boyfriend (he doesn't know I call him that); Iggy, my blind best friend and personal chef of de Flock; Nudge, my chatterbox of a little girl whose obsession is in …clothing, yuck; Gazzy, the Gasman, and eight year old pyromaniac and partner in crime with our chef who was named quite literally for his talent of producing, well, gas; lastly was Angel. Let's not get into my description of her just yet. Our relationship has been very rocky the past six months ever since she tried to usurp my position as the Flock's unofficial, totally official leader.

Six months ago, the flock and I had been in Hawaii saving my Madre's dear life. We managed to get her away from Mr. Chu only suffering mental damage and emotional strain. I'd take bullets over that emotional pain crap any day! Mom was a strong woman, but she needed the norm of her humane life. She temporarily ceased all workings with not so human creatures i.e. experiments like the flock, and was resting in her home with my half sister Ella. She resumed her normal life as a vet, and insisted that the Flock and I laid low for a year. Her experience with Mr. Chu gave her a taste of the Flock danger and hunt or be hunted life style. Needless to say, it didn't sit with her well. We decided to settle down for a year in our new home in the Colorado Mountains.

Our home in the mountains was damn awesome! It was just like our old E-shaped house, but this one way more decked out. Nudge totally upgraded our technology. Our box shaped TVs and monitors were replaced with flat screens and laptops; we also had something called High-speed internet, a god bestowed gift I swear to god! But that's not what you want to hear huh?

Fang and I . . . well I feel like such an idiot for pushing him away for so long. How could I not have realized that Fang was literally my perfect half? He was it for me; there would be no looking in the future. I'd like to think that we're subtle about our feelings in front of the flock but judging by the way Iggy and Gazzy are always gagging . . . I'm starting think otherwise.

The flock was all chillaxing right now. Iggy and Gazzy are planning to blow sh-tuff up, Nudge was off being a girly girl covered in her Magazines (Don't let that fool you; she secretly has super electronic controlling device thingie under all that girly garbage. I'm starting to think the magazines are a cover up from some evil scheme she was plotting. It just might be the end of the world if she managed to pair up with Iggy and Gazzy. I'm shuddering just thinking about it) Angel was playing with Total and Akeila at the moment. I was . . . trying, and might I add failing, at making a PB&J sandwich.

It was TORTURE! Iggy is punishing me and I know it! So far a burnt the bread, smashed the jar of jelly, and caramelized the peanut butter (don't ask). Damn Iggy, he's gonna pay for not making me a sandwich when I _nicely_ ordered him too earlier. I cackled evilly and tipped in half a container of habanera pepper flakes. The first bite went to my dear friend Iggy (Insert evil Laugh here: MVHAHAHA).

I put on a cheesy smile and _skipped_ into the living room. "Hey Iggolasaurus, get your butt in the living room," I say sweetly, not really though. Fang gives me a scrutinizing look; I giggle and wink at him. He rolled his eyes and went back to . . . well whatever it is Fang does on a laptop. Sweet mother of God, I was turning into a _girl_. I scrunched my nose in disgust.

A moment after I called Iggy, a huge BOOM went off in his secret evil laboratory in the basement. Thundering steps came up and in marched a scorched faced Iggy with black soot sprinkled across his face like powered sugar.

"What happened to you?" I cackled madly at Iggy's new look. He glared, and blew his now dirty blonde bangs out of his eyes (Don't know why considering he was blind anyway).

"You're what happened!" He shouted throwing his arms up into the air, fuming with anger. Then he went about rambling about not calling him stupid nicknames, and something about his experiment blowing up in his face because of it. I drowned it out of course. I was just nice to pretend I was listening. "NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT?" He concluded his rant. I grinned and held up my master piece.

"I wanted you to be the first to try it," I say sweetly. The anger drains out of Iggy's face leaving him looking dumbfound. A light pinkish tint colored his cheeks. Was Iggolasaurus blushing?

"For me?" Iggy murmured with disbelief. I smiled sweetly, again, and thrust the plate into his hands. I caught Fang snorting at the computer screen, or at me. Nudge looked up from the magazine to watch Iggy with doubtful eyes. Looks like she's on to me. Iggy smiles and takes a huge bite out of the sandwich. Three, two . . . o-

"HOLY SHIT MAX WHAT IS THIS?" He screams, his face turning red under the black soot. He ran for the kitchen in blind haste, crashing into the wall first. I bent over, and held my stomach as a soundless laughter escaped me. Iggy put his entire head under the kitchen tap, and gulped gallons of water in at once.

Fang, Nudge, and Gazzy (who came when Iggy screamed) all snickered at our blind friend's fate. Iggy took deep breaths and stormed back into the living room where I innocently sat in Fang's lap. His arms were wrapped around my waist, and his head leaned onto my shoulder. His deep throaty chuckles made me quiver with delight. I hid my smile, and kept a straight face.

So you like it?" He gave me a disbelieving look.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" I doubled over laughing. Iggy's face turned a royal shade of red from embarrassment and tears leaked out of his eyes as he fanned his precious tongue. I probably killed another one of his six senses. He can't see, he's blind duh, I killed his sense of taste, I'll probably scream until he loses his sense of hearing, and Iggy doesn't have nearly enough of a brain for the 6th sense.

"Damn it Max, I'm never letting you in my kitchen again!" Iggy all but stomped his foot. I pouted not so innocently, sometimes I forget the acting is unnecessary since the dude is blind anyway.

"But what if I'm hungry?"

"I make the food in this house!" He growled back, and continued fanning his tongue. I grinned triumphantly as the idiot took the bait. I leaned back into Fang and snickered. His arms tightened around me, and I eased myself into his grip.

# # # # #

"MAX!" Iggy shouted, which unfortunately happened to be right in my ears. I glared, and moved away from Fang. We were currently on the couch with Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel watching a movie when Iggy stormed out of the kitchen.

"Ig, I'm right next to you," I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice but I'm guessing by the way he's smirking at me right now, I'm not succeeding. Stupid blonde always knew how to get under my skin.

"Sorry, blind kid, remember?"

"Yes Iggers, you certainly have a disability." I rolled my eyes; he ignored my new nickname, and thrust cash into my hands. Was today my birthday?

"Thanks to your …creation in the kitchen earlier, we're all out of food. Go restock in the nearest town." He commanded in almost a motherly tone. What I tease, I rolled my eyes.

"Yes mother!" I saluted, and pulled Fang to his feet with me. "Come on Fang, let's get going." He nodded and we made our way out. We both ran and took off into the mid-day sky. I looked over at his face; his eyes were looking straight into mine. I felt my cheeks getting hotter, oh great I'm blushing. I quickly looked away. Neither of us were talking but it was a comfortable silence.

I smiled into the warm sunshine thanking my lucky stars that my flock was safe, and I had Fang right beside me. It felt so good to stretch out my long speckled brown wings their full fifteen feet span, and exercise them with light flying. Despite the harshness of our life style I wouldn't trade my wings for the world! Being thousands feet in the air, having the wind softly caress your face as it filters through your hair, and have the warm sunshine sprinkle down on you . . . no amount of words could ever describe the feeling of flying.

We landed in a secluded woodsy area and crouched behind some trees to make sure no one was looking; Fang and I quickly straightened ourselves out and tried to act casual as we crossed the street. I felt Fang's hand slip into mine, I smiled at him and reached over to peck him on the cheek. I think I saw him smiling but who knows? I went down isle after isle with Fang, getting all that we needed: junk food, candy, pop, frozen chicken, and Monster- only all the bare essentials. Note the sarcasm.

"You know, now that were taking a break, maybe it's time we learn something new." I say after a while. We were currently grazing down isle by isle. "I mean we both know that we're severely lacking in the educational department." He just nodded his head, going along with my decision. I frowned; he managed to make me his girlfriend, and I still can't get him to completely open up. I never pried at Fang's reason for being the quiet emo kid especially if it had to do with our past -which I'm sure it did- then some things were better left alone.

"I'll head over to the bookstore; you buy the groceries and meet me out in five," Woah, that was the longest line he said in a while, this time I nodded my head. I squeezed Fang's hand with a smile, and turned away. I wish now that I never let go of that hand.

# # # # # #

I paced outside the book store for about ten minutes now; Fang still hadn't come out. I was getting paranoid. What if he got captured by flyboys, or M-Geeks, or what if Mr. Chu is taking his revenge by kidnapping Fang and he needs my help right now? My mind ran in circles coming without thousands of different scenarios of what could possibly be keeping Fang so long! No, I need to calm down. Fang can take care of himself, besides if something really happened to him, he would have flown out to check on me by now. I continued my perpetual pacing.

5 minutes later…..

No Fang

10 minutes later…

No Fang

20 minutes later …

Still….No Fang

After an eternity, I decided that this was RIDICULOUS; Fang should be here by now. I ditched the groceries and rigidly stalked into the "family friendly" bookstore that was holding Fang hostage. There were many long isles of books on display, and the store was set up almost like a mini maze. I frowned when I realized finding Fang wouldn't be so easy. Please let it be that he just got lost inside the book store. At first, Fang was nowhere in sight. I checked _everywhere_, and then felt like the stupidest bird kid ever because I saved checking the education section for last. And they say I'm supposed to be some advanced intelligent specie.

I saw red, the ugly shade of red I detested all my life, over Fang. I held my breath and pretended it wasn't real. But it was. It was as real as the breaking of my heart. No breaking would have been humane, my heart was literally shattered. Fang was there, but so was Lissa, the Red-Headed Wonder.

I watched, maybe Fang would push her away and this would all be some big mistake. But he didn't even realize I was there, watching. Lissa had her lips latched to Fang's like a leech sucking the blood out of its victim. Fang was eagerly kissing back in a way that he never kissed me before. I won't deny that the kisses between Fang and I have been rather innocent so far, no more than a peck. But this was different. His tongue slid into her mouth and twisted around hers.

Fang's arms slid around Lissa's waist taking a tight hold of her ass. Lissa complied by pressed her rather revealing breasts against Fang. She wrapped her legs around his body, and Fang easily cradled her. Her arms wove around his neck and into his hair. They kissed and kissed and kissed. I waited for the end of this torture. But I guess there wasn't one.

I took a wavering step back, bumping into a shelf of books and promptly knocking it over. The crush alerted the leeches and their lips pried away from each to finally notice my presence. I took one look into Fang's eyes and took off running.

Tears rolled down my eyes before I could hold them back, but I kept my face straight. I ran out of the bookstore, unfurled my wings and jumped straight into the air. My body reacted while my brain shut down. I flew in speeds that I never knew I could possibly achieve. Tears rolled out my eyes probably more the harsh wind lashing at my face. My mind hadn't yet comprehended what just happened back there.

I think my mind blocked out both pain and fatigue because I was flying, quite possibly at the same speed as an airplane, for approximately an hour. I yelped as an intense pain shot through my wing. It cramped and refused to flap. I wasn't flying anymore, now I was falling. I fell from thousands of feet in the air, ungracefully. My wings felt like they were being torn apart as the resisted. In the last possible second I twisted my body so that I was taking a nose dive instead. It instantly took the pressure off my wings. I gritted my teeth and willed them to open up.

But I was a moment too; my wings finally opened up and caught my fall, but not enough. I crashed into large branches. As I plummeted downwards pine needles and sharp branches tore at my skin. I desperately throw my arm out to grab one of the branches. And I succeeded, except that my strong grip on the branch jerked me upward and nearly ripped my arm out of its socket. I immediately released the branch and fell to my doom. I instantly blacked out when I connected with the forest floor.

# # # # #

**_That was a foolish thing to do Maximum._** An annoyingly familiar voice pulled me out of my blissful sleep. Go away; I wanted to yell at it. But images started pouring into my mind, and I awoke with a startled gasp.

Lissa and Fang, Fang and Lissa, lips latched like leeches. I felt bile rise to my throat, I pulled myself so I could empty the contents of my stomach. My heart retched in my chest. My world shattered around me. My heart felt like it was torn into two, stomped over by a stampede of elephants, and thrown into a blender just to be shredded into strips. Tears leaked out of my eyes, slow at first. When I fully registered Fang's betrayal a deep sobbed bubbled out of my chest and tears streamed down my face with a new speeds.

Being tortured by the school, getting experimented on and cut into, being chased, being hunted, fighting and killing to survive, trauma, physical pain, hunger pains . . . they were all nothing compared to Fang's betrayal. Being hated, wanted, sneered at, hunted, taunted, or coveted, I could handle because I knew my enemies would all be like that. The one thing I always counted on was that my flock would always be at my side no matter. Even if we were separated we were still loyal. But a betrayal and a personal one too, within the flock was not something I could ever be prepared for.

**Maximum don't be overrun by emotions** The voice tried to warn me. I ignored it. I don't even understand why? How could he do this? Fang was the one that pushed me into realizing my feelings for him, why would he go through all that if he never liked me? I trusted Fang with everything I had, I gave him my heart, I gave into these vulnerable feeling for him. And then he goes behind my back to suck faces with Lissa.

As my heart gave out under the canopy of trees in a forest of who-knows-where, I sobbed like I've never cried before in my life. I thought about everything Fang and I fought through and everything we stood for. Our beautiful memories through all the gory ones were shattered. Through my pain and delirium, one thing made clear to me: I could never face Fang again.

But never seeing Fang again means I had to leave the Flock, right? What kinda leader what I be if I made them choose between Fang or me. Fang's betrayal had cut way too deep for me to ever forgive, but I wasn't going to divide my flock because of him. No, I would take my flock away from that traitor. If he can betray me so easily, I wouldn't dare leave my precious family with him.

The thought of taking my flock and leaving reminded of why this happened in the first place and had me bawling all over again. I cried into my arms, and uncomfortably sat with my back against a tree. Where was I anyway?

**Texas, **the voice answered for me. I ignored it. **Maximum you are over reacting. You need to go back to the flock. **

"Shove off!" I screamed aloud, for once the voice complied and left me alone. I knew it was still around; it wouldn't give the opportunity to pester me for a tiny insult. I brooded into my arms again. Maybe I was overreacting. This kinda thing happens to regular humans all the time right? But I'm not a normal human and my relationship with Fang was anything but normal.

We survived for the last fifteen some years of our lives because we trusted each other. We looked out for each other's backs, and made we had all the living essentials. Fang was my comfort in this demonic cruel world. But now all that was torn away from me like having hair ripped from your leg during a wax. Oh great, that was fabulous thought, way to go Maximum, you've lost it!

Losing that trust left a huge gaping hole in my heart. Ugh, if was a normal human being I wouldn't have to go through any of this sh-crap! I wouldn't be so tormented by Fang's betrayal. I wouldn't have such a weird deep bond with that boy or my flock. Right now I wanted to be a normal human so bad that it actually caused me pain. Just for day, no a few moments, I wanted to go somewhere where I could just be a NORMAL teenage girl. But who would I go to? Who would help me? After what Fang had done to me I don't think I could ever trust another guy again in my life. UGH, I feel like I'm in one of those never ending soap operas, I hate this feeling. I feel like I can't trust ANYONE at all, not just guys.

_I hate my life!_

A new vicious thought seeped into my brain. I gasped at its presence. Did I really just think that? Despite all the sh-crap this world threw at me I never once hated my life because I always had my flock with me to show me that something in this world are worth living for. But then this thought . . . I don't think I ever thought that before in my life, not when I was in the school, when Omega tried to kill me, when I killed Ari, when they kidnapped Angel and it was my fault I couldn't protect her, or when they kidnapped my Mom.

Oh, that's it. MY MOM! I could go see my mom and Ella. They lived with these kinda normal emotions and stuff all their life right? Maybe they could explain what was going on with me. I trust my mom and Ella. I love them. And in this moment, I needed them.

I didn't think. I threw myself into the air and flew in dangerously sharp angles. My sense of urgency supplied my wings with a sense of adrenaline and I was soon flying faster than I fighter plane. Okay minor exaggeration, but the speed was exhilarating. At another time I might have enjoyed this flight, but my heart and head were terribly shaky, dangerously shaky. For a moment I wondered if this is what it would be like to fly drunk or with a hangover and then laughed humorlessly at my train of thoughts. Shi-crap, I was breaking down, and breaking down fast.

I tried to focus on more positive thoughts. I'd see Mom again. And Ella! They'd know what to do. They'd know how to fix me. Maybe Ella will know how to make me feel better. Yeah and maybe Santa Claus really does exist. No one can save me from this remorse…this betrayal…

Once I saw some familiar land marks, I retracted my wings as I dived into the woods behind their house. That was the thing about my Mom, after the Chu events, she moved out of her suburban ranch-style home in moved into a more recluse cottage style house closer to the woods. Mom was shaken up though she hid it well the last time I saw her, it was a traumatic experience for her. I feared she or Ella would never recover from getting a taste of my world. But oh how wrong I was…

I watched them from the cover of the trees, laughing and playfully pushing each other around in Mom's kitchen. The smell of chocolate chip cookies drifted from the open window and brought a fresh set of tears to my eyes. That smell…that sight it was all so comfortingly familiar and yet completely alien to me. They were happy. Mom and Ella were happy, away from me, away from my life style, and away from my horrors. If I tried to interfere in their lives again I could put them in danger or worse scar my blood family irreversibly.

I chickened out. I, Maximum Ride, was too afraid to face my own mother and half-sister. But…just for once in my life…I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to be the spoiled brat who tried to win all her mother's attention and then childishly stick their tongue out at their younger sibling. Put them in danger or be selfish. I was torn.

I slumped up against the tree and sat there until all the tears were out for good. I didn't let myself think, just feel. I deserve this kind of torment; I don't deserve Mom or Ella. Maybe I'm not even worth Fang's love. That's why he cheated on me, he needed someone better. I heard thunder rumbling from the sky, the sun completely hidden but benign storm clouds. I wiped face free of tears and practiced smiling a couple of time so I wouldn't scare mom. I imagine my smile came out looking like a grimace. I brushed the dirt off my jeans and made my way around to the front of the house.

I stopped at the door; my hand was hovering about a millimeter away from the door bell. '_Was this really the right choice?' _I thought to myself. I didn't get a chance to decide because at that moment the door swung open.

**As you can see, somethings have been kept exactly the same, others have been extended. Updated versions of chapters 2-7 will come soon. **

**IMPORTANT: In a few days time, my username will be changing to Kiki1770**

**~Kiki1770 out...**


	2. Wiped

**This was originally supposed to be a part of chapter one, but I decided to make it a new chapter! Enjoy**

**Someone corrected me, Dr. M lives in Arizona**

**Special thanks to:**

**Obsessivereader1223 for correcting me thanks!**

**Crazychick53 for being my first reviewer! Thanks this means so much to me!**

**You should check out my story: One Step at a time and Dear Diary**

**OMG! IM SO SORRY! I FORGOT THAT DR.M LIVED IN AR! SORRY! :'-(**

**Anyway thanks guys! I got 9 reviews on the first chapter, lol, btw I'm not responding to every single review unless there's a question that would be just plain stupid no offense.**

**WARNING: SUPER LONG! And a little OC in someone's part**

**Claimer: I own Plot**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR :'-( **

**Chapter 2: Wiped**

Guess who was standing there? If you guessed mom and the Easter bunny, then I'm afraid you're wrong. If you guessed mom and Red-Haired Wonder Numero Duo, then you're correcta-mundo! My glance lasted on Bridget for about a second before I look over at mom. They were in both in shock to see me standing here. Then I did something unexpected. For the moment I had seen Mom's face, I lost all the control I had over all my emotion. I ran into my mom's hand sobbed harder then I had before.

"Max…Max... what's wrong honey?" Mom said in a panicky voice which shook violently, this made me feel worse, thus creating more tears.

"He…he ….ch-cheated ….on m-me!" Admitting it out loud, made me realize how very true this is.

"Who Fang?" Bridget asked, her voice was a tad bit over sympathetic, she must be squealing with joy on the inside. It must be inhumanly possible to cry any harder then I already was, but somehow I managed to do so. Mom didn't say anything, she just held me, and comforted me. I vaguely remember her stroking my hair and us sitting on the couch.

"Hey Mom, can I-"Ella started.

"M...M…Max? Why is she crying?"

"Fang cheated on her" Bridget replied casually. I coiled my hands into fists. How could mom just sit here and listen to Bridget hurt me? Stupid Red Heads! **(A/N no offense I have nothing against red heads). **Ella looked at Bridget angrily, but came to sit next to me; she wrapped her arms around me, and put my head on her shoulders, just…crying.

"I'm so sorry Max, I saw how much you guys loved each other," I shook my head against her shoulder. I don't how long we sat there, the three of us…and Bridget.

**(A/N No Flames I'm going to make Bridget nicer now)**

After maybe an hour or so, I think I completely ran out of tears, I shrugged out of Mom's and Ella's embrace, brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, as if I was holding myself in place, and if let go I'd crash all over again.

"Here Max, this should help you feel better," Bridget had a tray of cookies and I think a mug of hot chocolate.

"Why?" I asked her "Why do care about him so much?

"Huh, I guess you deserve an explanation."

And so her story began

"I used to have a little brother, named Tristan; he was fourteen when he committed suicide. Tristan was like Fang in so many ways: quiet, thoughtful, sensitive and he always wore black, always. He fell in love with some girl, who didn't love him back, he was crazy about her. She finally refused a final time and he couldn't handle the pain, so he ki-killed himself. When I met Fang it was like my brother was back, and like I had a chance to get close to him again. He told me how he loved you so much and how you didn't feel the same way. So I thought that maybe if I gave him the attention he wanted he wouldn't ki-kill himself." She said quickly.

"H-how did he d-die?" I stammered the thought of death was making me even more depressed.

"He…um…drowned himself," she started crying too. I let go of my pains to comfort her, I wrapped my arms around Bridget and whispered comforting words to her. I lost a brother too, I knew how she felt.

"I never really knew him-"she sobbed quietly "I was to obsessed with popularity and my own life and problems, maybe if I had talked to him, I could have talked him out of drowning." She wasn't as loud as I was but her voice broke every so often. Both Ella and mom were patting me and Bridget. None of us moved after that, Mom turned the TV on and we all sat in front of it hugging each other, but you can tell that no one was really watching. After a while Mom had to take Ella to soccer practice which left me and Bridget alone.

"Will you be okay honey?"

"No, but I will be here with Bridget," I said truthfully as she walked out the door. She kissed my cheek and then pulled away in baby blue BMV. I went back to Bridget, she wrapped her arms around me, and I wrapped mine around her. We both needed the comfort at the moment. Bridget's brother died 3 years ago, which wasn't too long, I just found out that this was the first time she truly admitted how she felt toward the situation. All this time she kept her pain locked up inside her, I think I broke her shell. I don't know how but I just did. I wished I could always be there for her, I don't want to go back to the Flock. I wish I could just forget them entirely.

"Bridget, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure,"

"Could you….wipe all my memories of the flock away?"

"What?" She looked very startled and her eyes flashed and met mine.

"I don't want to ever see them again, I want to be normal just for once, please Bridget,"

"Umm…." I saw her hesitate. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"It's what I need,"

"How are going to explain this to your Mom?"

"I was thinking I would go off on my own,"

"Max, if I wipe your memories, them technically, you won't have the knowledge you have right now. You won't be able to survive on your own.

"Then would do you think I should do?"

"Stay with your Mom, I'll make up an excuse for you,"

"That is a good idea, but my Mom's is the first place the Flock would think to look for me. I'm surprised there not here yet actually. It's been almost five hours." I happened to spend three of those outside Mom's house trying to decide whether or not to go see her.

"We'll then….would you like to come live with me?" A smile crept her face, I could literally see her eyes brighten.

"What?"

"The Flock wouldn't suspect a thing, they all think you hate me-"She smiled sheepishly "So why would they think to look for me?"

"I guess, but you don't mind?"

"No of course not, I see as a sister,"

"I wouldn't mind having an older sibling for once, someone to take care of me instead of the other way around," We both laughed. Wow I didn't think I'd ever laugh again in such a long time. But my chest immediately felt a pound lighter. Who knew laughter could be such a simple cure?

"Okay Max, wiping your memory isn't such a hard task for me; I have easy access to that kind of equipment. Don't ask. But we need to go to New York. I recently bought an apartment there, and I now have a job as a science professor at Cornell University. So I can create you an entirely new identity there if you'd like? I could also enroll you in High school as my little sister."

"Sounds good to me, but if you don't mind, I want to keep my name the way it is, just say we had different dad's? And I'd rather be home schooled."

"Sure, but we need to leave right now, unless you want your mom in on the plan?"

"No, I think you should leave first so that Mom doesn't think we have any connections, and then I'll tell Mom I'm going back to the Flock. I'll meet you where ever you want. Then we can take a plane and head over to New York. We have to leave before the Flock show up."

"Okay but Max, what about your wings? How do I explain that to you and how do I explain why you can't remember your childhood?"

"Umm, just tell me I was born with them and that I have amnesia or something like that form a car crash?"

"Okay, well, your Mom is going to be here in a few minutes; if she asks tell her I had to go to work, okay? Meet me at the Scarlett hotel 10 miles south of here, just ask for Dr. Dwyer," I nodded my head. Then Bridget did something totally unexpected, she leaned down and kissed my forehead and then she rushed out the door. Wow, just two hours ago I was thinking about how much I wanted to strangle this woman, and now she's practically my sister. Just this morning I was teasing the Flock and now I'm running away from them. Damn you Fang, for changing my entire life in a matter of five minutes.

I heard the car pull up to the driveway, mom was back. I sat on the table and put my hand on my head so it was covering my eyes. I tried to look like I was thinking hard.

"Max," Mom called out as she walked in, I heard her coming closer to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Not really,"

"Oh okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No not really," I have to get out of here as soon as possible, before I talk myself out of leaving Mom.

"So where's Bridget?

"Left," Wow, one word sentences. I felt a little guilty; mom was trying to make me feel better. "She had to go to work and Mom?" I added.

"Yeah,"

"I'm going back to the Flock,"

"Okay, you're doing the right thing sweetie. Maybe you and Fang can talk it out, and the rest of the Flock members deserve to know what's going on." I nodded my head. "I'm so proud of you honey, for staying so strong, and doing the right thing. The Flock needs a leader like you, someone who doesn't let emotions rule them, but rationality." I nodded and gave her one last hug. I'd probably never see my mom again, or remember her if I did.

I rushed out the door and took off into the sky before the waterworks started. My Mom believed me, that I was doing the right thing. And I lied to her face, it makes me feel worse that she didn't suspect a thing. Jeez what a guilt trip, this is so unfair. Ugh, screw it Max, all this won't matter soon so just forget.

**You shouldn't let emotions rule you Max**

_**What do you know about emotions? You're just a stupid voice in the back of my head so I mean it when I say SCREW OFF!**_

Silence….

Finally, IT leaves. I'm glad that damn voice decided to listen to me for a change. I felt anger boil in me, why does everyone have to leave me? I don't care if I asked it to but still! Does no one want me? Stop thinking like that Max, jeez you don't even sound like yourself anymore, besides in a few hours none of that will matter.

PAGE BREAK

I landed in the hotel 10 minutes later; it was very fancy-schmancy in there. I went to the lady at the front counter, one look at me and I swear she would have paid me a million dollars just to see me smile. I didn't look that bad, or did I? I was about to ask for Bridget when I saw Bridget herself lugging down a gi-mungo suitcase. We didn't say anything until we got into a cab.

"Bridget, do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"We'll that's not exactly my place to say, but I think you should talk to Fang, maybe it's that girls fault and not his?"

"But he was kissing her back!"

"Maybe he didn't want to hurt her by pushing her away?" Damn logic! I sighed, maybe she was right.

"You know what; I think I might go back!"

"Good for you, see if things work out, if not my offer still stands,"

"How come you're okay with this? Why did you agree so easily?"

"I may not know you that well Max, but I do know it takes a lot to make a girl like you cry, and forgetting them was what you truly wanted then why should I say no?" I gave her a tiny smile and a quick hug, before I shot off into the air, determined to do the right thing and to be the leader who rules with rationality.

I flew to the house in a record amount of time, but instead of using the front door I went throw my bed room window. This apparently happened to be occupied. Yup, the Red-Haired Wonder was sleeping my bed and guess what else? Fang was sleeping next to her, shirtless.

'Damn, will this day just gets better,' is what I wish I thought, nope. What I actually thought was 'He really doesn't love me anymore; he moved on without me, am I really not good enough?' Luckily, I bursted out crying after I took off again. I quickly dried my tear before I made my way into the airport. I saw Bridget it wasn't hard to find her, especially with that poufy red hair of hers. It reminded me of Lissa's, I ignored the pain. She looked up at me and her eyes widened, I can only imagine what I looked like: blood shoot puffy red eyes and smile/grimace full of pain.

"Max, what's wrong?"

"She…she was there again," Bridget didn't say anything, she just wrapped her arm around me and made sure I didn't trip over any suitcases as we walked through the air port. I can't say I remember much after that, no one bothered me. Even security was easy on me. It wasn't until I got on to the plane that I realized I was in some kind of trance. I didn't talk much, I knew I'd lose whatever control I have right now, I'm not spending my last few hours as Maximum ride the mutant bird freak crying. For once being in sardine tin can jet didn't bother me. I decided to close my eyes and drifted off; I turned the volume on my iPod.

**(A/N: this song is called Impossible by Shontell, Me No Own)**

_I remember years ago  
Someone told me I should take  
Caution when it comes to love  
I did, I did_

And you were strong and I was not  
My illusion, my mistake  
I was careless, I forgot  
I did

And now when all is done  
There is nothing to say  
You have gone and so effortlessly  
You have won

_You can go ahead tell them_

Tell them all I know now  
Shout it from the roof tops  
Write it on the sky line  
All we had is gone now

Tell them I was happy  
And my heart is broken  
All my scars are open  
Tell them what I hoped would be  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible

_Falling out of love is hard  
Falling for betrayal is worst  
Broken trust and broken hearts  
I know, I know_

Thinking all you need is there  
Building faith on love and words  
Empty promises will wear  
I know, I know

And now when all is gone  
There is nothing to say  
And if you're done with embarrassing me  
On your own you can go ahead tell them

Tell them all I know now  
Shout it from the roof tops

_Write it on the sky line  
All we had is gone now_

Tell them I was happy  
And my heart is broken  
All my scars are open  
Tell them what I hoped would be  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible!

_Ooh impossible (yeah yeah)_

I remember years ago  
Someone told me I should take  
Caution when it comes to love  
I did

Tell them all I know now  
Shout it from the roof tops  
Write it on the sky line  
All we had is gone now

Tell them I was happy  
And my heart is broken  
All my scars are open  
Tell them what I hoped would be  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible  
Impossible, impossible

I remember years ago  
Someone told me I should take  
Caution when it comes to love  
I did..

You know what? This song is really inspiring me to write some poetry,

**(A/N: My best friend wrote this, enjoy)**

_Peace and love are two different things._

_Both can be lost._

_For some never found._

_When we simplify things, life suddenly becomes easier._

_When we are oblivious to drama that comes with life, we become better._

_But without you I am lost._

_When I simplify things, one thing comes to my mind; you._

_Sometimes I'll think of you and what we could have been._

_And then I realize my surroundings._

_And come back down to Earth again._

_But one thing I know for sure; that my heart will be empty , without _

_you beside me._

You know what; I'm just going to stop before I do so, thing crazy like pole dancing.

Okay so let's re-cap today's downsides

Fang sucks faces with Lissa

I cried

I lied to Mom's face

I cried

I lost it with the Voice

I saw Fang and Lissa sleeping together

I cried

I wrote poetry

Yup, the last day in my life as Thee Maximum Ride was the worst in my life, tomorrow I would be just Max Ride.

PAGE BREAK

I still don't remember much after getting off the plane, I vaguely remember getting out of a cab and walking into an apartment flat. And the next thing I know I'm being pushed into a chair and my arms and legs were being strapped down, I instantly snapped out of my trance and started panicking.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Sorry Max it's for your own good, I don't want you thrashing around and knocking me unconscious or anything like that" I calmed down, and she took that as good thing and continued the strapping. Bridget started attaching little mini sticky pad like things to my forehead all the way around, then she went over to test out some of her fancy-schmancy machines.

"Max, are you absolutely sure you want this?"

"Yes," I closed my eyes.

"Okay, begin erasing process in…"

5…

"_No hospi'l." Fang mumbled, his eyes still shut. _

_Relief flooded through me. "Fang!" I said. "How bad?"_

"_Pre'y bad," He said fuzzily, then groaning, he tried to shift to one side. _

"_Don't move!" I told him, but he turned his head and spat blood out onto the sand. He raised his hand and spit something into it, then opened his eyes blearily. _

"_Tooth," He said in disgust. "Feel like crap," Fang added, touching the knots on the back of his head. _

"_Fang," I said, my voice breaking. "Just live, okay? Live and be okay." _

_With no warning I leaned down and kissed his mouth, just like that. _

4….

_He stepped closer to me, till his face was only inches away from mine. We'd been the same height for most of our lives, but in the past two year he'd shot past me. Now my eyes were level with his shoulders._

"_Your girly enough," he said quietly. "As I recall."_

3…

_Fangs hand gently smoothed my hair off my neck. My breath froze in my chest, and every sense seemed hyper-alert. His hand stroked my hair again, so softly, and then trailed across my neck and shoulder and down my back, making me shiver._

_I looked up at him. "What the heck are you doing?"_

"_Helping you change your mind," He leaned over, tilted my chin up and kissed me._

_At that moment I had no mind to change, or not change, or throw against the nearest wall. My mind had shorted out as soon as Fangs lips touched mine. His mouth was warm and firm, his hand gentle on my neck._

2…..

_He rolled his eyes and took my hand. His hands were hard and calloused, tough with muscle and old scars. The night settled around us like a blanket. I could hear the water lapping against the docks. We were totally alone._

"_You're…" he began, I waited, my heart throbbing in my throat. "Such a pain," he concluded._

"_What?" I asked just as his head swooped in and his lips touched mine I tried to speak, but one of Fang's hands held the back of my head, and kept his lips pressed against me, kissing me softly but with a Fang-like determination._

1…..

_I glared at him. "Go ahead, try to stop me, I dare you." It was like the old days when we used to wrestle, each trying to get the better of the other. I was ready to take him down; my hands were curled into fists._

"_I was just going to say be careful." Fang told me. He stepped closer and brushed some hair out of my eyes. "And-I've got your back." He motioned his head toward the torpedo chamber._

_Oh, my God, it hit me like a tsunami then: how perfect he was for me, how no one else would ever, could be perfect for me, he was everything I could possibly hope for, as a friend, boyfriend-maybe even more. He was it for me. There was no more looking. _**(A/N: ZOMG! I fast read this part; I never realized how beautiful that part is!) **

_I really, really loved him, with a whole new kind of love I'd never felt before, something that made every other kind of love I ever felt, washed out and wimpy in comparison. I loved him with every cell in my body, with every thought in my head, every feather in my wings and every breath in my lungs. And air sacks._

_Too bad I was going out to face certain death._

_Right there, in front of everyone, I threw my arms around his neck and smashed my mouth against his. He was startled for a second, then his strong arms wrapped around me so tightly I could hardly breathe._

0….

_Was this all really worth throwing away Fang? _

Was my last thought before I saw his face behind my eyes and blacked out.


	3. Slapped

**Hey guys, thanks you so much! I got 12 reviews again! Lol, keep it up! Sorry I haven't updated fast enough but I just got back from vacation.**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO: Ari, who doesn't have an account, so I just want to tell her thanks for the review and that ideas is really good, I'll see if I can fit it, that wasn't an idea that occurred to me but thanks. Though I'm not sure because then she would know that they were looking for her. P.s PLEZ make an account! I'd love to PM to you!**

**meant4ivashkov, thanks that means a lot to me! Lol.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own MR**

**Claimer: I own plot**

**WARNING: Pov's will change a lot in the next few chapters. Slight swearing.**

**Chapter 3: Slapped . . . XD**

_Fang Pov_

I can't believe it's been 6 months since Max left. _Six months_! It feels like lifetime. We don't even know if she's alive or not. If we didn't have Lissa the flock would have fallen apart a long time ago. Confused? Let me explain.

That day in the bookstore, when I saw Lissa, I didn't know what came over me. One look at her and all I wanted to do was kiss her again and again. I guess my testosterone level was on high that day. She had cherry red lips, freckles splashed across her face, high rosy cheekbones. Did I just say cherry red lips and rosy cheek bones in one sentence? Oh dear, look what's happening to me! I can't say I remember what we were talking about, I was too busy kissing her, and I think we got up to second base. The next thing I know I hear a whole bunch of people screaming.

"HOLY SHIT IT'S A BIRDKID!"

"A HOT BIRD KID!"

"DAMN . . ."

"I CANT BELIEVE YOUR BREAKING UP WITH ME!"

I have no idea where that last one came from. I broke away from Lissa to see a fuming Max. She turned tail and ran away. I stumbled out after her, but she zoomed away. Lissa stopped me from going after her, something about 'give her time to think'. Biggest mistake of my life! Lissa came to our house, and we explained what happened.

The flock was really mad that I brought Lissa here, but then she surprised us with some news of her own. See, Lissa turned out to be 1% cat and 99% human. She has retractable ears, claws and a tail. And she has the stealth of a cat, so in a way she was like one of us . . . so I let her stay with us. We all know that when Max's not here I'm in charge, and I got a ton of help from Lissa. Angel and Nudge were ticked the most, Iggy didn't care, and Gazzy thinks that girls have cooties but that's another story. I was hoping they'd get over it by the time Max came back, but she never did, I even slept in her room so she wouldn't be able to sneak past me, but when I woke up, it was Lissa that was next to me. She was 'cold and lonely'.

We waited and searched everywhere for Max. She never came back. I kept thinking she abandoned me and the best thing that had happened to me since was Lissa. Since then, Angel and Nudge refused to talk to me, and every time Lissa was around they shot death glares at me. They think it's mine and Lissa's fault that Max left, but I don't see how that works. All I did was kiss her.

It's been six months since Max left. Angel and Nudge still refuse to talk to me, Lissa lives with us on and off, and Iggy and Gazzy have been very distant, and they hardly ever talk to me or Lissa. This entire thing is a mess. If only Max had waited and let me explain to her that Lissa just happened to look hot that day, she'd still be here. Anyway, Lissa's Father (who is so Fnicking rich) was able to fix Iggy's eyes, so he was no longer blind. Angel and Nudge have their own credit card which they refuse to use or touch, and Gazzy had unlimited bomb supplies, which he too refused to use. I wish they would stop acting like this was my entire fault. All I did was kiss a girl. It's not my fault Max got all jealous.

This is exactly how I thought about the situation, until yesterday, that is.

_Flashback_

"_Fang, we need to talk," Angel told me. It was the first time she was talking to me in five months, three weeks, and six days, so of course I wasn't about to blow her off. I nodded my head._

"_We want her to leave Fang," Nudge said. I was dumbfound. Who are they talking about? Oh . . . right, Lissa._

"_Look, the only reason she's here is because we need the resources. She has money, we don't. Max took the Max Ride card with her when she left."_

"_Gee, I wonder who's fault that is . . ." Gazzy started. WTF, this isn't my fault! I heard a whoosh of air, then I felt my cheek stinging._

"_Shut up Fang," Angel screamed. WTH! She slapped me, stupid mind reader! "This is your fault! Max was in love with you! Don't you think it would have broken her heart to see you with someone else?"_

"_She…was in love…with me?" I stammered. HOLY SHIT! What had I done?_

"_No shit Sherlock! We all saw the way Max looked at you, but then you had to go and suck faces with that slut."_

"_Lissa isn't a slut, now watch your language Ig," I said sternly. I watched his hands curl into fists. If it was a fight he wanted it was a fight he was going to get. I was about to get up and charge at Iggy when Angel and Nudge pushed me back onto the couch, and Gazzy held Iggy back._

"_No man, you're not the leader of the flock! Max is, and we sure as hell won't be taking any orders from you until you ditch the bitch." _

_They all nodded in resentment. Crap, how did this happen? I still don't understand what came over me that day. Dang, how could I do this to Max? I was in love with her since we were seven. I felt my own chest tighten. Suddenly a memory flashed through my head. It was Max. She was sitting in a forest crying her eyes out. I kept watching and waited for her to stop but she didn't. I had never seen Max cry so much in my life! Not even when we buried Ari and it was all my fault._

"_That's enough, Angel!"_

"_Why? There is a lot more then that Fang!" How could Max possibly cry anymore then what I just saw?_

"_Look I'm sorry, I don't know why that happened with Lissa, it just did."_

"_It's not your fault Fang, she was seducing you," Angel admitted reluctantly._

"_What does seduce mean?"_

"_I'll tell you when you're older Gazzy." Crap, well that explains a lot._

"_How?" I asked._

"_She's part cat Fang!" Angel said with the whole no duh expression.(A/N: If you read the series House Of Night you'd get it. Cats like vampires, vampires seduce...comprende? ) I rubbed my forehead and thought hard._

"_Okay fine! I'll get rid of Lissa. You guys go start packing, we're going after Max!"_

_END FLASH BACK_

Yeah I feel guilty as hell, but it's even worse knowing I didn't make a bigger effort to look for her earlier, or to think that this wasn't my fault. Getting rid of Lissa was a tearful event for her, but a joyful one for us. But the moment she walked out of the house all the weight of her seduction left, and suddenly I felt like myself again. I realized that she was blocking my mind of any thoughts that had to do with Max. I also found that I lost a lot of my memories of her, that horrible B***h was draining my memories of Max to replace it with her. Angel helped me get most of them back.

Right now we were all packing. I was running back and forth between rooms getting my things when I heard Nudge sitting in Max's room crying. No one's been in Max's room since she left. Dang, I'm not good with those kinds of emotions, that's Max's job. Her job was a lot harder than she ever let on. It's one thing to take care of someone and another thing to be taken care of. I never realized how much Max really did for us until we lost her. Lissa had been a temporary hated replacement but she didn't give a crap about Angel or Nudge when they were crying or when the Gasman got cuts and bruises from a bomb nor did she ever complement Ig's cooking. Max kept us together, while Lissa tore us apart.

I walked into Max's room and sat down next to Nudge. I knew I didn't have to say anything, she would start talking on her own. Nudge turned to me and slapped me across the cheek. I gave the universal 'WTH' expression, but Nudge dove into my arms and cried onto my shoulder. Confused, I just sat there and held her tight. I was starting to feel a bruise on my cheek. That girl had quite a backhand. After a few minutes her sobbing stopped.

"You wanna explain this now?" I indicated to my bruised cheek. I think a saw a faint sliver of a smile creep up in her face, but it came out like a grimace.

"She was in here Fang, I can feel it." Nudge started chocking back a sob. "That night before she left, Max came back to talk to us but …she saw you and Lissa and-" Tears were streaming down her face again. "I never felt anything so sad in my life, I felt broken and angry at the same time. It was unbearable Fang; I don't think I can take any more of Max's pain."

"I'm sorry Nudge. I love her so much, but Lissa used me, and I didn't even realize it." I deserved that slap. What am I going to do? They have hardly forgiven me, how will Max? I saw Gazzy walk in.

"Fang, I was thinking, you know how much Max loves Dr. M and Ella? Well maybe we should check there?" He shrugged.

"Crap, that should have been the first place we should have checked." I felt a wave of déjà-vu hit me. I was remembering the first time Max took me to see Dr. M. We hid behind in the woods before Max marched in. Those were the same woods that Max was crying in, in Angel's vision._Crap . . . _I thought as I quickly stood up. I barked a few more orders at the flock, pestering them to get ready.

PAGE BREAK

_Iggy's Pov._

I'm so glad that Fang finally came to his sense and ditched the B. I hated her from the beginning. What both Fang and Max didn't know was that I was there the day Lissa forced herself onto Fang, back when we were with Anne. I heard the sucking faces, it was repulsive, and I also heard Max run away and break down in the girl's bathroom. It was that day that I realized Max could never be mine.

Obviously, Max was in love with Fang, otherwise it wouldn't hurt her to see him with the B. I loved her from the very beginning, just like Fang, but I never admitted it to any one. I doubt even Angel knows. I swallowed my feelings for Max years ago from the day we all turned eight. That was around the time when Max decided to hang out with Fang the most and of course Fang responded.

I knew Max could never be mine; she was too deeply in love with Fang even before she realized. I cared about Fang too much as a brother to tell him that I wanted Max. And I loved Max enough to let her go for her Fang.

But the day Fang broke her heart was the first time I ever had hope for Max in years. Yeah I know it's sad, but I really do love Max. But the chances of her loving me back were painfully low. God, I sound like such lovesick mutant. This time Fang doesn't deserve Max, so she's all mine. That is, of course, if she chooses me.

The saddest thing is that I still haven't seen Max with my own eyes. I've seen her in pictures and in the memories that Angel showed, but I haven't seen her myself. As much as I hate the B I'm still very thankful for my eyes. The feeling of being able to see again was like being born all over again and seeing the world through an all new perspective. It was the happiest moment of my life. One second the whole world was an endless black abyss, and then I could see everything; every angle, every color, every shape. It was all so sharp and defined. I will never take my sight for granted for as long as I live. At first I was totally confused and disoriented, but Angel, Nudge and Gazzy helped me out a lot. Fang was off being . . . Fang, with the B of course.

I know this is kind of cheesy but I can't stop dreaming about her. I swear I'm losing my mind. I wonder if this is how Fang felt around Max. She tends to have that kind of effect on you, I guess. The dreams are cheesier then the idea of me dreaming about her. Don't ask, I'm not telling you!

PAGE BREAK

_Fang Pov_

We've been in the air for about an hour now, just a few more minutes until we get to Dr. M's place. I was a nervous wreck at the moment, but I had to keep it together for the Flock. Damn, this job just doesn't get any easier does it?

"Funny . . . Max never thought of us as a job to be done, Count Jerkulla!" Angel snapped. I turned to see all their expressions harden.

"Stay out of my head Angel," I said in my stern and hopefully leader-like voice.

"Gladly," She said with heavy sarcasm. Whoa, she's just like Max.

The rest of the flight wasn't so bad. Iggy and Gazzy were constantly going at a game of I-spy and Total was singing Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall, and I was pretty dang close to chucking a rock at him. Lucky for him I didn't happen to have one on me.

As soon as we found Dr. M's house we didn't waste time. I landed right on the porch. Iggy and Gazzy didn't have half the brain I did, so they landed right on top of me. I not so carefully kicked them off and rang the door bell. The door swung open and out came a very sleepy Dr. M and Ella.

"Fang?" They asked. "Where's Max?"

"Umm that's what I'm here to ask," I said sheepishly.

"She . . . didn't . . . come . . . back?" Dr. M drew out.

"She. Didn't. Come. Back?" Ella said furiously. She reached her arm out and smacked me hard across the cheek. Man, I've been getting slapped a lot lately.

"YOU IDIOT!" She screamed at me. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" She slapped me again. Damn she has quite the back hand, that might actually bruise.

"Cut that out!" I snapped.

"Ella watch you language," Dr. M started then she turned to glare at me. "You break my daughter's heart and you come back to me six months later, because now you suddenly decided that you wanted her back?" She reached her hand out and smacked across the other UNBRUISED cheek! I was about to let a whole stream of unholy cuss words flow through my mouth when she slammed the door in my face. Humiliated, I kept my mouth shut and rubbed my other cheek.

"I vote to let them slap you again to let us in," Iggy smirked

"I second that," Gazzy and Nudge both said.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" I frowned at them and rubbed my cheek. Angel rolled her eyes and stepped around me and knocked on the door.

"Ella, it's me, Angel. Can you please let us in?" she asked in her sing-song voice. All we got was silence

"Five . . . Four . . . Three . . ." Gazzy started but then the door swung open. Ella gave us an angry look and stormed off, leaving Dr. M with us.

"Omg, it's a new record! I mean like, that last one hardly even lasted more than, like, two seconds. I can't even eat a Snicker's bar in that much time. ZOMG I totally want one right now, I mean who wouldn't want this caramel-y good sweet-"Iggy slapped his hand over her mouth. Angel turned to talk to them.

"Please let us in," she said all innocently. Innocent my butt, there is nothing innocent about those Bambi eyes. "We need your help to find Max. We were wondering if she came here?" Dr.M still wouldn't let us in but she decided to answer our question.

"You can stay right there, and yes Max did come here. She was an absolute mess. And . . . I . . . never saw anyone so …br-broken in . . . m-my life," she sobbed. "We just sat together crying for a couple of hours."

"We?" I asked

"Max, Ella, Brigid and I," she replied. She didn't seem too happy to be talking to me . . . But what? Why the _h _was Brigid there? She kept talking. "Max was really ticked at first but then she decided to go back and talk to you, but I guess she never did."

I turned to see Nudge glaring at me; she was giving me the "It's all your fault" look. Can't say I disagree, I mean it is my fault right?

"Why was Brigid there?" Angel said without missing a beat. Dr. M gave us a baffled expression.

"Um . . . we were discussing her reasons for quitting the CSM, why?" she replied.

I was dying to scream out; "Do you know where the Hell Max is or not?" but I already blew it once with them and now they don't trust me. I'm not about to make this situation a heck of a lot worse.

"Why did she quit? And why was she there when Max was?" Gazzy asked her. Wow, looks like Gazzy's been thinking lately. I wonder how much I've been missing in the last six months. How much of their lives was I too blind to see?

"She wanted to settle down, and actually I think Brigid and Max love each other very much. They really bonded when she came here." she sniffed. We all stared at each other in doubt.

"Are you sure?" Iggy asked. "I mean, besides Fang we all know how much Max hated her." Max hates Brigid? Whoa . .. how much do they know that I don't?

"It's a long story, they just talked some issues out and Max trusted her, very much apparently," Dr. M replied. Okay, I hate to be a stickler but for the record I'm still standing outside.

"Do you know where Max is?" Gazzy asked worriedly. I could hear the pain in his voice. Max was like a mother to the kid. She raised him herself since he was born, even when we were trapped in the school she always made sure she took the most, and the hardest, hits.

"No . . ." Dr. M broke out into tears again. "Please," she begged with tears in her eyes. "Please find Max. I don't want to lose a daughter that I had for less than a year. _Please_."

"I promise," I swore to her silently. "I'm sorry Dr. M about what happened that day . . . it wasn't my fault," I told her sheepishly. I was well aware that I had an audience.

"I really don't care Fang, I just want my daughter back," and with that she slammed the door in our face.

"Well, I thought that went fairly well," Iggy remarked sarcastically. Unfortunately I didn't have it left in me to yell at him. How does Max do it?

"Now, what we do?" Gazzy asked, he gave me a wide eyed look that made my knee's tremble from guilt. 'Stupid guilt tripping eight year old' I thought. Angel knocked on the door again. We all stared at her in wonder. Dr. M opened the door again, and she was furious.

"What?" she barked at Angel. I walked over and stood directly in front of Angel, cutting of Dr. M's glare. Angel pushed me aside and gave me a look that said, 'Let me talk to her". I raised an eyebrow at her, but let her go on.

Angel looked right into Dr. M's eyes and said; "You are going to help us find Max." She used a really eerie voice. We all dropped our mouths open.

"I'm going to help you find Max," Dr. M said confused. Iggy grabbed Angel by the shoulder and pulled her back.

"What are you doing? This is Max's mom you're controlling!" He whispered/shouted.

"Angel," I started with a stern voice, "cut it out,"

"No," She replied evenly, and then turned to look at Iggy. "We don't have any other choice."

Iggy sighed but gave in. Dr .M cleared her throat.

"I have an idea," she proposed. I saw her hands twitching, she was nervous.

"Not bad, that might actually work," Angel said, reading her mind, I suppose.

"What?" Gazzy asked obviously left out.

"She thinks we should have Jeb track her down," Angel answered

"Of course, I mean like Jeb practically tracked us all over the world, like when we were with Anne, or when we went to Disney Land, and don't forget the time in New York when Max accidentally killed Ari. Speaking of New York, I really want to go there again. I mean, they have like all the best stores there and I like heard that they have the world's largest Hershey Chocolate Factory there. Yum, I want some chocolate right now. You know I never really liked dark chocolate. I mean if it's that and desert rats I'd totally pick the chocolate but otherwise it's like totally disgusting and-"

"Nudge!" I interrupted her. "CAN IT!"

"Okay so where do we find Jeb?" I asked her.

"Not far from here. Forty-first and Wilson Drive, third house on the left."(A/N not a real addresses people!)

That was all I needed. I took a running start and made a quick up and away. The flock, who had better manners than me, said their good-byes, and raced after me. One by one, we were all up in the air. The only thoughts I had in my head right now were:

_Is_ _Max okay?_

_Where is she?_

_Will Jeb help us?_

_What's for lunch?_

Sorry, mutant bird kids remember?

PAGE BREAK

_Iggy's Pov_

I really hate the fact that I have to always act like I don't care about Max when I do. By that I mean that I don't love her, when I do. Fang is really ticking me off, with his whole "I'm the only one who cares about Max thing and I want to die for her to prove my love blah, blah, blah!" I hate it! I care about her too; he doesn't have to get all dramatic about it either! I mean seriously! He's worse than Edward Cullen . . . Not that I would know or anything!

I also realized something else . . . I just saw what Ella and Dr. M looked like for the first time, and wow does Max look nothing like them!

When we finally arrived at Jeb's house, we made a full out nose dive right onto it. It was GI-NORMOUS! It was a white Victorian style, and it was completely gated.

We landed inside the gates and walked right across the lawn to the front door. We may have been well pampered these last six months but our bad habits still haven't changed a bit. Gazzy and Angel raced each other to the doorbell to see who could ring it first. Nudge tripped Gazzy and Angel flew past him, no pun intended. Nudge and I were snickering at Gazzy and Fang was off being his emo self, hating life and what not.

Angel rang the door bell and put on her innocent act. The words 'Angel' and 'innocent' just don't mix, sorry Ange, but they don't.

_It's okay Iggy, the words 'Iggy' and 'have brains' don't mix either._

_Hey, that's three words!_

_Iggy I'm mentally sticking my tongue out at you._

_Angel, I'm rolling my eyes at you._

We both smiled at each other, as the Gasman kept ringing the door bell.

"Come on! What's taking Jeb so long? I mean it's not like he has much of a life anyway!" Gazzy shouted, exasperated. We all chuckled at this. I think Fang- wait a sec! I don't give a horseshoe about Fang! So of course just then the door swung open.

"I heard that," Jeb muttered poking his head out. We all laughed again, so bad Nudge had tears forming in her eyes. Jeb sighed and gave us a serious look. "Is there something you need? The last time I checked, you all hated my guts."

"We need you to help us track down Max," Fang said in a solemn, emotionless voice.

"Why isn't Max with you?" Jeb asked suspiciously. I saw Fang's face fall, and Angel and Nudge frowning at him. I can't believe they feel sorry for him.

"Long story short, Fang screwed with Max's heart. She left us and now we need to find her," I told him. Jeb realized what this meant and turned to glare at Fang. Fang gave me a pained look and I returned it with an angry glare of my own. My ferocity must have scared him because he staggered back a step or two.

Jeb shook his head at us and let us in. We all trailed in wide eyed as we took in the sight of his mansion. We didn't get much time to admire it, because he hurried us along and pushed us into what looked like a . . . control room? Not that I've ever been in one or anything . . .

It was huge. There were screens of all different sizes all across the walls, and they were connected by a wire to a control panel, covered in flickering lights and switches. I saw Nudge and the Gasman itch to touch them.

"Well now what?" I asked Jeb. He walked over to the end of the room to a single black screen.

"That's strange . . ." he started.

"What is?" Fang asked in a hostile voice.

"This screen shows me everything Max sees. I can be her Voice remember?"

"Why is it blank? Is Max sleeping?" Angel asked.

"No," Jeb said and he looked at us sadly. "I think she might be dead . . ."

The entire room went silent, and then all chaos struck.

Angel and Nudge were sobbing and the Gasman and Fang were yelling at Jeb. I couldn't open my mouth to speak. I felt my heart tear in half. Max couldn't be dead, we would have felt it if she were. I looked at Jeb; he seemed to have something else to say . . . I tried to tell them to calm down, but no one would listen.

"HEY!" I screamed, "SHUT UP!" Fang shot me a glare that said 'I'm in charge, not you'. I gave him a look in return that said 'I don't give a fnick.'

Jeb cleared his throat, breaking the tension between the two of us.

"As I was going to say . . . either she's dead, or she has no recollection of her life as a mutant." We all went silent again, but I could see hope rising in everyone's eyes.

_Fang's Pov_

"No," Jeb said and he looked at us sadly. "I think she might be dead . . ."

My breath caught in my throat. My Max . . .dead? Impossible! The invincible Maximum Ride does not die easily. She can't be dead . . . no . . . she's not. I was wrapped up in my own thoughts when all hell broke loose. Angel and Nudge burst out crying, the Gasman started to argue with Jeb and I joined him. Jeb tried to tell us something but we didn't listen. Iggy noticed and tried to get us to calm down but he wasn't succeeding. What's up with him today?

"HEY" Iggy screamed "SHUT UP" I felt anger boil under my skin. As the leader it was my job to get everyone to calm down, not Ig's. I shot him a look and he returned it with a steady glare of his own. Angel, Gazzy and Nudge looked all tense when they saw us like this.

Jeb cleared his throat, breaking the tension.

"As I was going to say . . . either she's dead, or she has no recollection of her life as a mutant." Jeb finished quickly. We looked at him, dumbfound. We only had so many years of schooling.

"She doesn't remember who she is," Jeb translated. I think I speak for all of us when I say: WHAT THE FNICK!

"How is that possible?" Iggy asked him

"Well that's all old technology; anyone could have easy access to that kind of machinery."

I saw horror in everyone's eyes.

"How bad is it?" I asked him

"I can't know for sure unless I see her."

"How do we find her?" Nudge asked. Six words . . .

"Well, I think, I may be able to track her," Jeb said, He walked over to his computers and started tinkering around with the switches and Nudge was helping him out. The rest of us stood there like imbeciles.

_Twenty minutes later . . ._

I was sitting against the back wall and Angel had fallen asleep in my lap. I gently stroked her hair every time she trembled, it was easy to forget that she was only six sometimes.

The Gasman was talking about a new bomb idea with Iggy, whose heart didn't seem to be in it. That's new. Iggy always loved talking about bombs, especially to Gazzy. Nudge was still off playing Einstein with Jeb. Every so often they would mutter something and then their hands would zip across the keyboard.

"I FOUND HER!" Nudge screamed, Angel woke up instantly and we all ran to Nudge.

"She's in New York! ZOMG I was like totally talking about that a while ago! Remember we were, like, with Dr. M and she was all ticked off at us, but Angel made her help us and then she like, talked about Jeb finding Max and I mentioned how Jeb tracked us all over the world and-"Gazzy shook his head at her as she talked through his hand, and then finally shut up.

"Jeb-" both Ig and I said at the same time. I saw him turn to glare at me and of course I returned it. What's his fnicking problem? I let him continue . . .

"Can you give us an exact location?" Iggy inquired, irritated.

"Afraid not," Jeb murmured sadly. I didn't push it; I decide to just let it go.

"That's fine, thank you Jeb. Come on guys, we have a lot of ground to cover," I said in leader like voice, and I started to head out the door.

'_How are we going to find Max in city with over twenty million people?'_

"Don't worry Fang, we'll find her," Angel assured me. I smiled at her. I actually felt better.

"Thanks Ange,"

"Mhmm, oh and Fang?"

"Yes Angel?" She smiled at me and raised her hand up. Oh no. I closed my eyes as the searing sting came back.

Guess what? She slapped me. Big surprise.

"What. The. H. Was. That. For?" I curled my hands into fists.

"Well everyone else got to do it," she said all wide eyed. Iggy and Gazzy high fived and laughed like hyenas. Nudge was biting her cheek to hold back her giggles. I sighed and shot up into the air. They all followed me one after another.

_Don't worry Max, I'm coming . . ._

**OOOOOoooooOOOOOOOooooo**

**You guys must hate me for slapping Fang four times.**

**Kiki: Hey Fang?**

**Fang: (has a hand on both of his bruised cheeks) yes….**

**Kiki: Here hold my cookie, (hands Fang a half bitten cookie)**

**Fang: (takes cookie) why?**

**Kiki: SO I can do this! (Slaps Fang)**

**Fang: Ow!**

**Kiki: (Grabs cookie and runs away before he can strangle her) MVHAHAHA!**

**Hehe, there's slap number Six?**

**WARNING! I'm going to be switching Pov's a lot in the next chapter, and I might just bring Max in…..**

**BTW I have a message about this story in my other story "All's Fair in Love and War", check it out because it's really important! It could alter the future of this story (Cue dramatic Music!) AND if you go back to chapter 2 you'll see i have a new poem!**

**If I get 35 reviews then I'll make the next chapter longer and I'll update very soon!**

**So remember children….**

**REVIW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**Even if it's just because you want to slap Fang!**

**P.s I am super bored so funny reviews, ideas, and criticism is requested!**

**~kiki1607 out….**


	4. Used

**ZOMG! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! 18 reviews! That the most I've ever gotten!**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO :**

**Ha ha ha: thank u so much! U left me like 4 reviews! I'm dedicating this chapter to you lol,**

**Elmo's Stalker: XDXDXDXD that is the Fnicking funniest review ever! I loved how you tortured Lissa! If u guys are reading this, you should check out her review! Fang and Max were together, but Fang just thinks they cared about each other a lot. Just because you go out with a guy that doesn't mean you love them. Of course since they were Best friends for the longest time they love each that way too. That's why Fang didn't know that's Max loved him.**

**Kiki: Hey Fang guess what?**

**Fang: (covers into his corner of Emo-ness) what?**

**Kiki: you got virtually slapped 12 times and Iggy threw an ice pack at you**

**Fang: ugh! I know I still have a bump on my head.**

**Iggy: It's called I have skill and you don't! MVHAHAHA**

**Fang: (attacks Iggy)**

**Kiki:( slaps fang)**

**Fang: HEY!**

**Kiki: sorry Fang, but everyone loves Iggy now, you attack him then you'll get way more slaps then that.**

**Iggy: hehehe I'm the new favorite I can see it already …..Tall, Light and Smexy**

**Kiki: just because you're a figment of my imagination doesn't mean going to call you that**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR,**

**Claimer: I own all OOC's and plot**

**Quote of the week: **_**Birds of a feather Flock together**_

_**P.S I'm really happy with the way this turned out so I'm sure you'll enjoy**_

_**Chapter 4: Used**_

Lissa's pov

I'm going to kill that bitch, Angel…

I had everything under control until she had to come and screw everything up. I had Fang under my control! Do you frikkin' know how hard it was for me to find him? It took a lot of energy and the perfect timing. Plus the whole having a full moon crap really screwed things up. After I found Fang in Virginia, I knew that we were meant to be, but he only cared about that horrible B Max. She thinks she's so special! I mean HELLO…I'm part cat! And unlike her I'm not a mess up, I'm the real thing. I knew the only way to get to Fang was by getting rid of Max. Then I had to frikkin' figure out where the hell they lived, if it wasn't for my father, I would have given up this a long time ago.

My Father approves of this plan...I guess. It's not easy to seduce someone like Fang either, for starts seduction requires months of absorbing the moons energy, I get the most energy when the moon is full, and when we have a black moon it sucks the energy back pretty rapidly. Plus Fang was supposedly in "love" so it took twice as much energy. I waited day and night for six months planning and plotting. Then that little brat had to find out about my plans and ruin everything! Well if I can't have Fang then no else can either. Once I think I want something, it has to be mine or else….

First, I'll kill that bitch Max, and after her the little brat.

If Fang still doesn't want me after that then he'll leave me with no choice but to kill him too.

PAGE BREAK

_Max Pov (bet u were waiting for it weren't you?)_

I stroked my fingers along the keys of my piano, and then I looked up at the clock. Madame Dominique should be leaving any minute now. I loved playing my piano, but my teacher is so strict, I respect her very much but she is still a bit strict. But I'm not complaining about it, my sister works very hard to pay for all these private lessons and the homeschooling. I don't have the nerve to tell her I wanted to go to high school like all the regular teens in our neighborhood. But I could never be like regular old school children; I was burdened with the gift of wings at birth. Yes, actual 13ft long wings, they are a burden and I shamefully admit that I have no idea how to use them. Brigid told me that before the car crash I used to know how to fly.

Ever since the crash people have been treating me like I'm disabled just because I have long term amnesia, I'm glad I don't remember what happened before, at least I think not. But I have no time to dwell on the past; I have enough to do in the present.

I have to help my sister, Brigid, plan for her wedding (she's marrying a man named John Perry, who keeps on eyeing me weirdly. He and Brigid were colleagues, apparently. )

Work my shifts at Starbucks Café

Piano lessons

Homework

Homework

And more Homework

The list goes on…..

I felt a sharp sting on my hand.

"Ouch!" I shouted, pulling my hand back. I cradled it in against my chest. Madame was glaring at me furiously. What happened to 'violence is never the answer'?

"You should be playing keys C and F, not C and G and do you not see the sharp sign?" she yelled at me in her heavy French accent. I felt my face sink. I snuck a peek at the clock while she continued yelling. Yes! It's 4:30, her time is over and my shift starts in a half an hour!

"I beg your pardon Madame," she would smack me across the face if I didn't talk in proper language. "But I must be going, my shift starts in a half an hour," I think I sounded a bit too happy, and I'm sure she could tell too! I'm a horrible actress and an even worse liar.

"Oh yes, I don't see why such a young maiden such as yourself is working... In my days, women were required to stay home and work on needle work….." I tuned her out as she criticized modern culture. I tried to pack my things up as casually as I could and I stood up and signaled her to the door as she kept rambling.

"Women of my country were to stay at home and raise a family…." I nodded at her and reassured her that those were my plans for the future. Thankfully she believed me, what do you know? Maybe I can lie after all.

She finally left five minutes later we just stood near the door frame as she lectured me. I slammed the door shut and rushed into my bed room. I quickly undid the hooks on my evening gown (Madame Dominique requires one) and ripped of my sunbonnet (which is ironic since I'm playing indoors!). Who the hell wears sun bonnets?

I quickly slipped on a light blue tank top and put on my favorite flowing jeans skirt that hung just above my knees. I yanked my pony tail so that my hair lay flat and in pretty blond locks of curls. I ran to the front and put on my blue chunky flip-flops.(A/N sorry people I couldn't find a picture, and no Max is not a slut so don't imagine a mini skirt or a short one, it's about an inch above her knees,)

Oh no! I was already running late! I yanked my door open and charged down the stairs and through the front lobby and out the front door. I ran about three blocks without breaking a sweat and I got there with a minute to spare!

I walked around back to the Staff room and grabbed my apron. I was struggling to tie it on when I felt strong hands replace mine; I turned around and smiled at him. Sam….

Call me crazy but I've had a crush on Sam since the day I took this job, he's just amazing, as in heart dropping amazing.

"Hey," I said and smiled at him. Sam is my absolute best friend, next to J.J of course.

"You're welcome," he smirked at me and walked away, I felt myself blushing and laughed at my silliness.

"Sweetie, your mouth is hanging open again," J.J informed. I blushed and clamped my mouth closed.

"I don't get why you don't just ask him out!" She said….again. We have this argument at least twice a day.

"I told you J.J, I don't want to ruin our friendship!"

"Well, all I see are two sophomores flirting outrageously again," she said, making a tsk-ing noise. I blushed tomato red.

"He's a senior!" I argued.

"By the way sweetie, your usual costumer is here," she said, bringing out a pitcher of black coffee.

"O, she's here again?" I sighed. My 'usual' costumer is some red-headed girl named Lizzy. She and Sam go to the same school, and they're good friends. I didn't understand why she always showed up here. She would always stare at Sam, and then bark out order at me. I really don't get it.

PAGE BREAK

My shift is almost over! Lizzy is still here, and has been for the last 4 HOURS! I was heading back to get my stuff out of the staff room when Sam stopped me.

"Hey Max," He says giving me that oh so beautiful smile. I swear my heart melted right there! I smiled back at him shyly. That's me shy, pathetic old Maximum Ride. Maybe I should change my name to Minimum Ride, Mini is a cute name.

"Hi Sam."

"I was just wondering if you needed a ride home." He flashed a smile at me and flipped his goddess blonde hair out of his eyes. I think I forgot to breathe.

"I-um…uh," crap, not good. I'm choking on my own words. "Sure," I fluttered. Smooth Max! I mentally lectured myself. He stared right into my eyes and smiled. I saw his face lean toward mine. OH MY GOSH! It's finally going to happen! HE'S GOING TO KISS ME. I squealed on the inside as our lips connected.

A minute later I pulled back and smiled at him. My lips were tingling with his touch.

"Wow," he said, I saw a tiny flash of regret in his eyes. What's that all about?

"I'll be right back, I need to get my things," I murmured, keeping my eyes glued to the ground. He nodded at me; his eyes were turned in a different direction. I followed his eyes to see the red head glaring at me. I whipped my head around before he could catch me staring.

I walked into the staff room, confused as ever but elated that Sam kissed. OMG! I can't believe that was my first kiss! Call me weird but I swear it didn't feel like a first kiss. And it felt weak to me? I stood in there for about 10 minutes before I realized I had to get back to Sam. I rushed out the room excited to see him, but he was in the booth with Lizzy.

I stuttered to a stop, he was smiling at her and she had her head on his shoulder. I took a deep breath and swallowed in my pain and walked up to their table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" My voice was surprisingly calm, I saw them break apart.

"M-Max I can explain," Sam stuttered.

"Don't worry baby, I'll tell her," Lizzy slurred and batted her eyelashes at Sam. I fought back the urge to cry. "Look honey, my boyfriend here was just using you to get to me; he doesn't give a flippin horse shoe about you, go find your own man because Sammy and I are meant to be!" She snapped. I tears slid down my face; I ran out of the Café. I liked him so much it hurt and he used me!

Is that all I'm worth? Being used? I guess I was never good enough for Sam. It's all my fault for not being confident. I kept running and running I didn't look back, after a while I realized I didn't know where I was going. I slowed to a walk and took in my surroundings for the first time.

_Where am I?_

I kept walking straight looking for familiar street signs or a cab somewhere. I've never been out in the city on my own, and I was scared to death at the moment. I kept going, too afraid to turn back;it took me a while to realize that-

I was being followed….

**Like it? Love it? Hate it?**

**Got ideas or suggestions?**

**I don't care just review! Lol.**

**P.S Okay no flames people! But I am going to take a break from this story, I have to update Dear Diary work on this new one shot that's a Maximum ride Twilight cross over and I have to update All's Fair in Love and War, I have two chapter that are almost done for that and then it will be DIS-CONTINUED.**

**KEEP REVIEWING!**

**My goal is 55 or 60**

**And I love funny reviews so …yeah**

**~Kiki out….**


	5. Found

Hey people! Thank you so much! I almost reached my goal of 60, but at least I got more than 55!

I got 19 reviews on this chapter! Keep up the good job! Though if I had one more I'd get twenty ~sigh~

I think two people threatened that bad things would happen if I didn't up date ROLF to that!

Kiki: Hey Fang! Guess what?

Fang: You're not going to slap me again are you? Because I still haven't recovered angry cats, rabid min pins and the ninja squirrels!

Kiki: Hehe, nah, I just wanted to say that your still getting slapped!

Iggy: Why are there cat's in my room?

Kiki: I still need Fang for my story, do you mind babysitting them?

Iggy: ~coughs up fur ball~ Yeah sure (insert sarcasm)

Fang: Stupid cats…

Kiki: You really should be careful about what you say Fangy-poo

Fang: Say that again and you won't live to see the Maximum ride movie!

Kiki: If you kill me, my reviewers will come for you

Fang: Damn it!

Iggy: Okay, well since you two are too busy bickering; I guess I'll do the disclaimer: Kiki doesn't own MR, or angry cat's tid bit!

Kiki: Yeah that line totally goes to Wingedhero540, thanks for the funny review! And sorry for the long pointless A/N

Sorry I took so long, writers block, I know what I wanted to write but I just didn't know how to describe the picture in my head.

Chapter 5: Found

Fang Pov

Damn it, we've been in New York for three days so far and no luck what so ever!

Mostly we were walking around waiting for Angel to pick up on Max's thoughts. She's trying really hard but New York is huge! Angel, Gazzy and Nudge were all worn out; they weren't used to walking so much. Iggy surprisingly held as strong as me.

He and I hadn't been getting along lately. Everyone else forgave me, I didn't get why Iggy doesn't. But I didn't like making a big show of things; I most likely wouldn't ask him about it.

"Fang….I'm hungry," Nudge said with her usual pouty face, guess that hasn't changed much, huh?

"Okay, we'll stop for lunch soon." I studied the city below me; it was nearly nightfall. Which was why we were flying so low.

Half an hour later, we all walked out of Cold Stone, we all had gotten the 'Got to Have It.' We managed to steal a couple thousand dollars from Jeb. We were walking along the side walk, laughing as Total kept jumping up to lick Angel's ice cream, and she kept dodging him.

Then suddenly, we heard a loud scream.

"What was that?" Iggy asked.

"It sounded like a girl's voice," Nudge said.

"Angel, can you pin point the thoughts of the person who's screaming?" I asked her. I'd been talking a lot lately, go figure. Angel gave me a 'mhmm' and closed her eyes tightly and concentrated.

"Ummm…" she mumbled, "Around that corner, into the ally way." She pointed to an alley a couple of feet away from us. "Ugh, they're thinking horrible thoughts about this girl," she remarked. Iggy, Gazzy and I slowly walked toward the alley; we have issues against dark, scary places.

There was another scream.

"Max…" Iggy mumbled "THAT"S MAX'S SCREAMING" He yelled at me. We all dropped our ice creams and ran into the alley. What I saw next was absolutely disgusting. Some guys and Max pinned under them, and the leader. I presume, had his lips, slobbering all over her neck. She tried fighting back, pushing them back and letting out terrified grunts. She was failing miserably, and giving up.

Oh shit, they were trying to jump Max. I heard clothes tearing. Anger seared through me.

Max Pov.

I don't know what going on, why are they doing this to me? I want to leave! Right now. He pinned me down under him.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll make sure you enjoy the first time." I wanted to scream "let me go", but I was frozen in shock. Why oh why did I have to be in a skirt and a tank top? Next thing I know, his lips were on mine. Instinctually, I forced myself to push him away, this aggravated him more, his lips travel down to my neck, and I took this opportunity to scream.

Big mistake…

Two more men showed up.

"Hey man, save a little for us," one guy said, and the other grunted in response. I opened my mouth to scream again, but their hands came down over my mouth. I pushed and struggled with everything I had, but they held me back further. I couldn't stop them; my senses were beginning to get frayed. Every part of me was in fear and hyper drive.

Then my mind hit a black wall of realization.

I was being jumped….and there was nothing I could do about it. I closed my eyes and slowly gave up. Next thing I knew, I saw two angry teenage boys rip all the men off of me. One boy had …what's the word? Emo black hair, I couldn't see too much of his face but I noted that he was dressed in all black, and was quite tall for his age. He seemed kind of...intimidating, I don't know why, but I immediately disliked him. His face was twisted into rage and it was quite terrifying. The other boy was just as tall, but he had strawberry blonde hair, and I could see his piercing blue eyes. I was mesmerized by them. I always had a thing for blonde hair and blue eyes; my romantic history speaks for itself. This boy seemed to be just as angry, but I also saw…compassion…in his face?

Still in shock, I staggered back two steps until I had my back against the wall. I sank down to the ground. My mind was having a hard time processing that I had almost…been raped. For the second time today I cried, the first time out of anger, the second out of fear. Two little girls ran to me. One had beautiful black hair and mocha colored skin and eyes, the other girl had blonde locks of curly hair much like mine and pretty gray-blue eyes. She looked rather angelic (They grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet, and then they both wrapped their arms around my waist. I was confused and shocked but I wasn't going to complain. They were probably afraid of those men too. I put my arms around them.

I looked over to see the blonde haired boy and black haired one beating up the men who tried to jump me. The black hair one, threw a man up against a wall, and punched the day lights out of him. The blonde one kept punching the man in the stomach. The one who … err kissed me was being held by a small boy with sandy blonde hair, he must be related to the Angelic one.

After the dark one and light one finished with the men in their hands, they went after my attacker. I started shaking in my place.

"Don't worry, Fang will take care of them," The angelic one told me. Fang? The name was enough to scare me. The dark haired one grabbed my attacker by the collar, and brought him up close to his face.

"Never…Rape…Women ...Again!" He said angrily. I cringed at his angered face, I didn't like this one. I sobbed as I imagined what would have happened to me. The dark one smiled and started punching that guy, and the light one was helping him

The light one kneed him in the stomach, and the guy doubled over; the dark one grabbed the guy by his hair and smashed his head against the wall. I screamed out in shock as I heard a crunch.

"Fang, she's losing it. Gazzy, Nudge, and I will take care of him." The two little girls let go of me, I staggered back to the wall, and the two oldest boys took their place.

"What's going on, why…why are the little girls fighting them?" I stammered.

"Don't worry, they can handle themselves," the light one softly murmured. I watched the little girls fight in horror. There just small little girls and they were practically killing this man.

"Stop!" I screamed. "He's going to die!" They looked up at me in shock. The two little girls stopped and held the unconscious man in their arms.

"Why? He deserves it," the dark one said, and the rest mumbled an agreed response.

"How could you say that? He may be a cruel man, but he's still a living human being!" I shouted at them.

"Max he tried to rape you!" he yelled. I cringed away from him, and the realization hit me, he knew my name. My eyes flew to him; he seemed to be upset about something.

"How do you know my name?" I trembled.

"Just let me-" His hands started to reach for me.

"Don't touch me!" I spat at him. I started backing away from him.

"Fang, back off, you're freaking her out!" the lighter one said. The light one threw me an apologetic looks, and his eyes pierced right into mine. I felt drawn to them.

"Dude, Iggy's right, back off," the smaller boy said. The little girls nodded in agreement.

"Max please..." he pleaded. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. His lips came crashing down on mine.

My eyes went as wide as Frisbees, and my heart jumped out in my chest. Adrenaline took me over; I brought my knee up and kicked him in the crotch.

"Fang!" they all yelled in unison. They pried him off of me. I trembled and tears ran down my cheek fast and hard. Sobs bubbled up my throat.

"YOU'RE MONSTERS, ALL OF YOU!" I screamed at them. With that, I charged out of the alley and ran without looking back.

The last thing I saw was, the Fang, the dark one, holding the lighter boy's collar with a threatening look in his eyes.

Sorry I had major writers block writing this one chapter!

Okay I hate to tell you this but…..I think the updates for this story might slow down, I got some really good ideas for my story All's Fair in Love and War.

I'll still work on this thought!

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BELLOW!

I need a beta!

So recommend yourselves to me!

Conditions:

Has to be okay with Miggy

You need to be on frequently

Has to also Beta Dear Diary, and All's Fair in love and War, and anyother random one shot's in between.

I only want one Beta for all my stories, so if you haven't read my other stories , I recommend you read those before you agree to this!

The main thing I'm looking for in a beta, is some who's good at adding detail, I'm not too worried about punctuation.

P.S Recommend yourself through reviews

P.P.S REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

P.P.P.S Read my one shot "I will follow you into the Dark," MY best piece of work!

P.P.P.S Iggy is really annoyed with all my P.S's

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My goal is 80!

Kiki1607 out!


	6. Birthday Encounters

**Hey guys! You are doing awesome with the reviews!**

**IMPORTANT: I'm basing this story of the Book "Host" By Stephanie Meyer. So, no Max, will not be going to regular school. But you will find out more about her personality. **

**Disclaimer: Roses are red violets are blue I wish I owned MR, I bet u do too!**

**Fang: Keep dreaming Kiki**

**Kiki: *Nods and sobs***

**Iggy: *hands Kiki a tissue***

**Kiki:*blows into tissue***

**Iggy: there there Kiki *rubs back***

**Fang: At least you own the plot!**

**Kiki: thanks Fangy-poo I feel better.**

**Iggy: *snickers* Fangy-poo XD**

**Fang: I had to speak didn't I?**

**WARNING: POV's Will change a lot!**

**I've been planning this chapter forever so enjoy!**

**Max Pov**

I ran without looking back, I eventually found a taxi. I had to sneak in our apartment window to my room so that Bridget wouldn't see me. The last thing I want her to do is worry. I climbed into my bed, wet, tired, cold, and burdened.

The day's events rushed back to me.

I kissed Sam, but then I found out I got used.

I ran into rapists in a dark alley, as cliché as that sounds.

I was almost rapped.

And the scariest emo kid I had ever seen kissed me too. Somehow he knows my name, I hope I never have to see him or his friends every again. They were monsters, all of them, beating that man mercilessly.

By the time I was deep enough to fall asleep, three things came to my mind, the Dark haired boys kiss, and Sam's kiss and Light one's eyes…

I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING

Today is a special day. It's my birthday! I'm turning 16, and plus its Friday so no home school classes. When I first got the job at Starbucks, I requested to have a full day on Friday's…to see Sam. Now I wanted to stay home and cry.

I slid out of bed and started to get dressed, I woke up late and my shift starts in a half an hour. I slide my tank top and skirt off from yesterday, I forgot to change out of them. After a quick shower, I put on my favorite black sundress; it was simple black and flowed gracefully. My hair was straightened again from my shower. My wings were really starting to cramp, but I ignored them. **(An: Link to dress is on my home page, again, Max is not a slut!)**

I walked down stairs and into the kitchen to get breakfast.

"SURPRISE!" Bridget screamed. I smiled at her delighted face. She had the entire room decorated in pink, one of my favorite colors. She had one of those cookie pizzas' from Nestle Café. I walked over to give her a hug.

"Happy 16th birthday," She whispered into my ear.

"Thanks Bridget!" I told her, and then I went straight for the cookies. One thing you should know about me, I LOVE COOKIES! I eagerly grabbed the knife and dug into the cookie. But I stopped mid bite. "Oops sorry Bridget. I'm being rude aren't I?" I blushed and quickly cut out a piece for her.

"Not at all, it's your Birthday. Now hurry up you're going to be late," Bridget said as she packed her things. '_shoot' _I grabbed as much of the cookie cake as I could and ran out the front door. I was trying my best to forget about yesterday's events. Like how that dark-haired boy knew my name, or why that Strawberry blond was staring straight into my eyes. Which turned out to be easier than I thought. I spent most of my day, avoiding Sam, to ashamed to show my face.

The thing I loved the most about our Café is that it's like a little cove. Where people come to read or relax; while there's live performers in the background, and people get served at their tables.

During my lunch break I walked into the Café's staff room. I felt someone grab my hand. I spun around.

"Max," It was Sam. "I'm sorry, J.J told me that you liked me, and I feel horrible for using you," I ignored him and pulled my hand out of his grip, he let me go and walked away. I silently started crying, just because I ignored him, didn't mean I wanted him to leave. God, I'm so stupid. Stupid wild uncontrollable emotions! I sat down at my favorite window booth and stared out as I ate my cookie.

"Sweetie, you're crying into your cookie," J.J pointed out, as she slid into my booth.

"I was wondering why it was so salty," I joked back to her pathetically. She chuckled and reached over to grab my hand and squeezed it.

"If it makes you feel any better, there are two hot guys over there checking you out," She giggled; I spun my head around slowly. Honestly, I was sick of guys. They are such pigs!

Oh no….

It was the two guys from the Alley, the light one and dark one, Fang. They also had the two deadly little girls and a blonde boy. They were staring straight at me.

I ducked my head and leaned over to J.J.

"I know those guys," I whispered.

She lifted her perfectly shaped eyebrow at me, intrigued, she let me continue. I explained to her of yesterday's events. I eyed them every so often; they were getting a booth at the other end of the Café. Oh shoot, those were the tables that I waiter!

"Oh sweetie, I am so sorry, if those boys cause you any trouble I will call the police." J.J said sympathetically.

"J.J, please don't! I don't Bridget to get worried!"

"All right fine, but if things do get out of hand I will call them!" She threatened.

"Fine," I gave in.

"Max, I hate to break this to you, but breaks over kid," She smirked and walked away, her six inch stiletto's clicking as she walked. I sighed and devoured the last bit of my cookie. I reluctantly put on my apron back on.

Jason (Who waited my tables while I was on break) walked in.

"Hey Max, table 5 is ready to order," He smiled at me brightly, as if he was hiding something. Jason was a good friend to me, and I'm pretty sure he and J.J had a thing. Jason's dad also owned this Café so he was like a manger of this place while his father was away. I peeked out of the staff room. Oh no, table 5 is the one with the kids from the alley.

Maybe if I pretend I don't remember them they won't try anything.

**Fang Pov.**

**YESTERDAY…**

Oh dear god! I forgot what it was like to have Max's lips undermine. They tasted like vanilla, I wanted to deepen the kiss, but she kneed me in the….err soft spot.

"FANG!" I heard the Flock scream as Max kicked me. I felt Iggy's hands pulling me off Max. I opened my eyes to see her face, she was crying hard and her body was trembling all over.

"YOUR MOSTERS ALL OF YOU!" Max screamed and took off running. I tried to chase after her but Iggy held me back. I grabbed him by his collar and yanked his face close to mine.

"What the hell Iggy?" I screamed viscously at him.

"What's your problem Fang? Max nearly got raped and you kissed her! Have you forgotten that she doesn't remember us?"He screamed back, and then he gave me an indignant huff and pried my fingers of his collar.

"He's right, Fang, she was terrified. She's not used to seeing violence anymore," Angel told us.

"What else was Max thinking?" Gazzy asked.

"Well…hmm…she thought something like 'I have thing for blonde hair and blue eyes,'-" Iggy blushed brilliantly as we all turned our heads to him, I felt something boiling under my skin. Jealousy…. "She was thinking that Nudge and I were too little of girls to be fighting and she was mostly scared for our sake," Oh what so, I'm not good enough to think about? Angel threw an amused smile at me; then she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Nudge asked, wow that's the shortest sentence she said in a while. Angel leaned over and whispered into Nudges ears, Iggy, Gazzy and I watched in wonder. Nudges eyes flew to me and she started laughing as hard as Angel.

"What the hel-ck is so funny?" Gazzy asked. I threw him a look. He shrugged it off.

"Max…was…terrified…of ….FANG!" They laughed harder. Gazzy started out chuckling and then went into a full blown fit of laughter. Iggy laughed light heartedly at them. I raised an eyebrow at them.

"Max…is…scared of me?" I asked them, there kidding right. Thee Maximum Ride is scared of me? I never thought I'd live to see the day! I mean the idea of it was just too ridiculous!

"More liked terrified!" Angel laughed. I rolled my eyes at them, and let them continue to laugh.

"What are we going to do with the body?" I asked Iggy, who was checking for a pulse.

"He's still alive," He said and paused, "If we leave him here, then he probably will still do this to women, I suggest we call the police and run away before that get here," Wow, who knew Iggy had a brain?

"Hey!" Iggy whined! "I heard that!" Ah yes, good old whining Iggy. I didn't even realize I said that out loud.

"Good," I told him. He smirked at me; we did a fist pound and started to walk out of the alley.

"What about Max? How are we going to find her again? I mean we literally found her in the middle of nowhere. That is if you consider a dark alley nowhere! There are millions of people in New York City, how are going to ever find her again? It's not like we can sit around and hope for Max to get into trouble again so we can save her or something-"Gazzy slapped his hand over her mouth. We all rolled our eyes at her; Nudge stuck her tongue out in response.

"Angel, why are you so quiet?" Gazzy asked her.

"Max called us monster….are we?" Angel whispered, close to tears. God these kids must be bi-polar. I tear dripped out of Angel's eyes. Crap I'm so not good with these kinds of emotions. I wiped away her tear, and put my arm around her. She snuggled into me, sobbing quietly. Nudge placed her hand on Angels shoulder. **(A/N Angel is seven and Fang is 14. I refuse to do Fangel! So don't worry about it cuz it aint happening, this is a brother sister moment!)**

"She was scared of us Angel, I don't think Max would ever really mean that," Nudge murmured to her. Nudge is really starting to grow up; I missed so much in all of their lives in the past six months. I never knew she could be so deep. Ugh, why do my thoughts keep getting sidetracked? I nodded at Angel, Nudge is right.

"But this is different!" Angel insisted. "That man was a real living being, with family and children somewhere in the world! Yes he was cruel, but unlike all those Erasers, we killed in the past, this man actually had a soul. We almost destroyed that!" She finished dramatically.

"We're not monsters Angel; think about Max's fate if we hadn't showed up? Think of all the other girls he could get to in the future." With that, I closed this conversation.

We got a hotel that night, I couldn't sleep though. I tossed and turned but the only thing I could think about was Max, I kissed her, and she pushed me away. God, I'm such an idiot, she was almost raped and I kissed her. Of course, she would freak. I guess I was hoping that if I kissed her, she'd remember us. I can't believe Max is scared of me; the thought brings a smile to my face. I wonder what happens if I sneak up on her and scream 'Boo!' not that I would ever do anything that immature. I'm Mr. Emotion-less Wall block, I don't get worked up over these kinds of things, but Max always had that kind of effect on me, bringing out the very emotions I wanted to bury.

Please come back Max, I miss you so much!

The next morning wasn't so much better. I didn't get much sleep the night before so Angel and Nudge started jumping on my bad screaming "FANG WAKE UP" at the top of their lungs. I sighed and chucked a pillow and chucked it at them, and turned over in my sleep.

"Ow," I heard Nudge mutter. I must have hit her. I muffled my laugh into the pillow under me.

"Fine, be that way," Angel snapped. The next thing I know, I'm being dragged out of my bed feet first.

"All right, all right, I'm a wake!" I yelled. I struggled to pry my eyes open. Someone threw a glass of water over my head.

"What the hell was that for?" I opened my eyes to see Iggy smirking with an empty glass in his hand. I smirked at him and tackled him to the ground. I had him pinned down in a matter of three minutes.

"Okay I give up! Now get off of me," Iggy yelled.

"Boys..." I heard Angel and Nudge say at the same time, and then start giggling.

"Hmm, I'd rather not; I think I'm enjoying this." I told him.

"Sorry Fnick, but I'm afraid I don't feel that way about you," Iggy smirked back. Did he just call me gay?

"PWNED," Gazzy shouted, I rolled my eyes and got off of Ig. Let me clear this up for you. IM NOT GAY! I dream of girls –ahem- Max at night.

"I'm not gay, Ig,"

"Whatever you say… Fnickles," Iggy said innocently, and walked away. Angel and Nudge laughed at me. I ignored them and slipped a shirt over my head.

"Fang, I think where done packing, can we go look for Max now?" Gazzy asked. I nodded at him.

"I think we should go to Starbucks!" Nudge shouted.

"Why," Ig asked appearing from nowhere.

"Because for one, I want breakfast, and two, Max smelled like coffee and cookies." Nudge pointed out.

"Mmm, wouldn't I love to have Mocha frappe," Total said as he happily trotted by. I gasped in terror.

"Don't even think about it! Total, Nudge and maybe Iggy, NO CAFFINE!" I yelled at them. I received a whole bunch of 'awws' I rolled my eyes.

"What time is it?" I asked Gaz, who happened to be the only one of us with a watch.

"11, you're as bad as Nudge, Fang!" I smiled and ruffled his head, Nudge huffed and walked away.

Five minutes later, we were all walking toward the nearest Starbucks. What I saw next shocked me.

It was Max….

I nudged Iggy, his eyes turned to see what I was staring at.

"Holy shit!" He said under his breath. Holy shit was right, Max was wearing a black sundress that flowed of her body like a waterfall showing her curves of perfectly and complementing her model like legs perfectly. She was the perfect shade of natural tan. Not the ugly orange or fake tan kind. Did I ever mention that black was my favorite color? I think my attire is proof of that.

"Hi, I'm Jason; can I direct you to your table?" Jason, our waiter said. Iggy and I, dazed, walked to our table. Max was whispering something to the girl across from her, who shooting murderous glares at us. I blushed and looked away. The kids seemed to be oblivious to Max being here. Ig and I slid into the same side where we could see Max, and Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge where in the opposite side.

"Guys don't freak out, but I see Max at 6 o'clock," Iggy said nonchalantly. He picked up a menu and hid behind it.

"ZOMG, Your right! She's right behind us! OMG She's wearing a dress, an actual dress. I never thought I'd live to see the day where Max would wear a dress without us forcing her to where it. What a cute dress, how she come gets to where things like that and doesn't let me where it? Oh, well. She looks so pretty! Look at those cute feathered earrings! When did Max get her ears pierced? I hope she lets me get mine done one day!"

"Nudge!" All of us whisper-shouted "Shut up!" Nudge buried her head in a menu.

I saw Max, smiling at that guy Jason. Does she like him? I swear this new Max is driving me crazy! I pretended to look away as Max walked up to us.

"Hi, My Name is Max, I'm going to be your waiter. Are you kids ready to order?"

We all stared at her, what the hell? Max was a waitress? Did she forget us? We only saw her yesterday. Nudge was about to speak up.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX!" someone from behind her shouted. Max turned around, I peeked over to see the entire staff behind her. Max smiled at them brightly.

"Today's her birthday?" Gazzy asked. I shrugged, apparently it was.

"Hey everybody! Today is our good friend Max's 16th birthday." Jason, the guy from earlier said out to the other customers. The customer started cheering.

"Were having double chocolate chip cookies on the house in honor of her special day! It's my treat. IF-"He paused to look at Max. "If Max sings for us," Max's jaw dropped open. She looked like she wanted to run away, but another blonde boy had her rooted in place.

"SING. SING. SING. SING." The customers started cheering. The flock and I stared at Max. She struggled to get out of the boys grip and said "Please, don't touch me" to him. She stormed away from him, and he looked down sadly at his feet. I curled my fist, if Max didn't like this guy; I would gladly take him out for her. I could see Iggy tensing next to me, huh what's with him? Max sighed and walked up to the café's mini stage. She grabbed the guitar.

"You think she's really going to do it?" Angel asked.

"I don't know," I told her truthfully. Max put her fingers on the strings and started playing a song.

**(A/n This song is called "Behind these Hazel eyes," By Kelly Clarkson Bold+ italics= **_**Max's flashbacks**_**)**

**Max Pov.**

Why does Sam have to do things like that? Why can't he understand that I don't want to see him anymore? I know its selfish wish…but I just don't want to feel any more pain. I walked onto the stage and sang the first song that came to my mind.

_Seems like just yesterday__  
__You were a part of me__  
__I used to stand so tall__  
__I used to be so strong__  
__Your arms around me tight__  
__Everything, it felt so right__  
__Unbreakable, like nothing' could go wrong_

_**I was in some kind of subway station. My head was throbbing badly. His arms were holding me tightly; I swear the pain reduced by so much. He was stopping the pain. Who is he? I can't see his face?**__  
__Now I can't breathe__  
__No, I can't sleep__  
__I'm barely hanging on___

_Here I am, once again__  
__I'm torn into pieces__  
__Can't deny it, can't pretend__  
__Just thought you were the one__  
__Broken up, deep inside__  
__But you won't get to see the tears I cry__  
__Behind these hazel eyes___

_I told you everything__  
__Opened up and let you in__  
__You made me feel alright__  
__For once in my life_

_**It was just the two of us; we were talking in my room. I was wrapped in towel and sitting on my bed extremely upset. He put his arms around me whispered into my ears. He kissed my forehead and walked away. I felt better already.**_

___Now all that's left of me__  
__Is what I pretend to be__  
__So together, but so broken up inside__  
__'Cause I can't breathe__  
__No, I can't sleep__  
__I'm barely hangin' on___

_Here I am, once again__  
__I'm torn into pieces__  
__Can't deny it, can't pretend__  
__Just thought you were the one__  
__Broken up, deep inside__  
__But you won't get to see the tears I cry__  
__Behind these hazel eyes___

_Swallow me then spit me out__  
__For hating you, I blame myself__  
__Seeing you it kills me now__  
__No, I don't cry on the outside__  
__Anymore...__  
__Anymore...___

_Here I am, once again__  
__I'm torn into pieces__  
__Can't deny it, can't pretend__  
__Just thought you were the one__  
__Broken up, deep inside__  
__But you won't get to see the tears I cry__  
__Behind these hazel eyes___

_Here I am, once again__  
__I'm torn into pieces__  
__Can't deny it, can't pretend__  
__Just thought you were the one__  
__Broken up, deep inside__  
__But you won't get to see the tears I cry__  
__Behind these hazel eyes__  
_

His face showed behind my eyes. The dark-haired boy, sitting at my table. I stopped singing, everyone broke into applause. I smiled at them and walked away to the back room. Tears streamed silently out of my eyes. I felt someone wipe away my tears.

"Max, I'm sorry, please…give me another chance!" Sam pleaded. Ugh, I wasn't crying because of him!

"Sam, if I were good enough for you, you wouldn't have used me," I pointed out.

"You're more than enough and I'm sorry, but it's just…after I kissed you…I realized I wanted you not Lizzy." He admitted. I was shocked. He wanted me? I was nothing compared to Lizzy, she made me look like the nerdy girl next door kind of thing. "Max, I really like you, you're smart, you're funny, and you're sweet, kind and caring. I've never met anyone so down to earth in my life….Will you go on a date with me?"

"How do I know you won't go back to Lizzy again?"

"Trust me I won't, we broke up." He said sincerely.

"Okay," I told him. He smiled at me brightly.

"I'll pick you up at eight then, Oh and Max?" He asked

"Yeah?" he kissed my cheek softly.

"Happy birthday," He whispered in my ear.

"Awww, aint that the sweetest thing Jason," J.J said. Sam and I jumped apart, and blushed brilliantly. J.J hand her head on Jason shoulder, and her arms around his waist, he had one arm around her too.

"Sure is, Happy Birthday Max, I think you have a table waiting." He smiled at me and leaned down to kiss J.J's head. She giggled.

"Not bad Jason, looks like we both got our girls tonight" Sam said cockily.

"Score!" He bellowed out and high fived, J.J and I rolled our eyes and walked back to the customers.

Oh boy, it's time to face them…

**Okay people, I still need as Beta. SO PLEASE RECOMMEND YOURSELVES TO ME!**

**This Chapter is un-betad so sorry about the mistakes!**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO: Ari! Hey Ari, I hope you get an account soon! I'd love to PM you! I want to say thanks, cuz ur a regular reviewer.**

**REGULAR REVEIWERS:**

**Ari**

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**SoPassionate**

**THANK YOU GUYS!**

**I'm sorry to say this, but updates might slow down for a bit. Feel free to Flame me for that.**

**Maybe If I reach 100 reviews then I'll update this one fast enough**

**Sneak peek of the next chapter:**

**Max has to talk to the Flock, and she has a date with Sam. Which the Flock of course spies on! MVAHAHAH**

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	7. Stalking

**Hey guys, I know you're probably mad at me for not updating sooner, but sadly my interest/obsession with Maximum Ride has gone down, quite a bit. **

**To make it up to you, I am going to re-read the entire series again, so that I'll get into it again.**

**And I hardly get to time to write so yeah….**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR : (**

**CONGRADULATIONS: Wall-E My hundredth reviewer!**

**Please don't hate me if I decide to put this story on Hiatus.**

**Chapter 7: Stalking..**

**Third Person POV (This is my first time writing in third person POV so please bear with me. It's kinda gonna be like everyone's point of view at the same time, but it's not confusing, you'll understand it.)**

The Flock stared after Max as she walked away with conflicted emotions.

"What the Hell was that all about?" Iggy asked. Fang decided not to give him crap about his language. For once, harsh words were exactly right to describe the situation.

"I think she's starting to remember…" Angel said, she was concentrating hard on Max's mind. "Ugh, I can't get into Max's mind," She said with a pout.

"Don't worry Angel, we'll figure all this out." Nudge said reassuringly. Every since Max left, she took it on herself to make sure that Angel and Gazzy were happy. Sometimes she didn't mind and at other she wished Max were there to take care of her.

"Who knew Max could actually sing?" Iggy asked. They all shrugged. Last time they check, Max couldn't sing to save her life.

"Or play guitar?" Angel added. Again, there answer was a shrug. None of them knew Max had any musical talents; it was a shock to them all.

"So are getting breakfast or not?" Gazzy asked. "I'm still hungry!"

"I'm sure she'll be back soon enough." Iggy told him. They all sat their waiting for Max. Strumming their fingers on the table, playing random games of eye spy. Total was grooming himself under the table. Technically he wasn't allowed inside but he persuaded the Flock to take him with them.

Max walked out of the staff room nervously. She played with a strand of her hair, debating on whether or not to send J.J instead. _'Don't be stupid Max, you can handle this!' _She kept telling herself. She took a deep breath, and forced a smile onto her face.

"Hi again, I'm very sorry about before." She said politely.

"It's fine, happy birthday by the way," Iggy responded. He took the words right out of Fang's mouth. Fang glared at Iggy angrily, Iggy just ignored him.

"Are you ready to order?" Max asked them.

"Yeah sure I would like-"Nudge started again. She was interrupted by Max's gasp. Her eyes were as wide as Frisbees and her mouth dropped open, the flock couldn't tell if she was frightened or shocked. They all looked at her worriedly.

"Is that...is that a dog?" She asked us. We all started at her for a moment and bursted out laughing. Max blushed.

"What's so funny?" She asked them curiously.

"You really had us going there for a minute, we thought you were scared of something," **(I really need to re-phrase this dialogue but I can't think of how). **Iggy said with a smile. Max blushed again and smiled back.

'_Why doesn't she smile at me like that?' _Fang wondered.

"Can I pet him?" Max asked curiously. Her face showed genuine delight. Total, walked out from under the table and walked to Max's feet.

"Yeah sure. Don't worry he won't bite, we trained him really well. He's Scottish canine and he's very friendly. His name is Total, don't ask. We found him in a park with a collar that said Total, but we couldn't find his family so he stayed with us..humph…" Gazzy put his hand over Nudges mouth and they both threw Fang a sorry look.

"Sorry about our sister, she likes to talk a lot." Gazzy said sheepishly. Total jumped into Max's hands, and she caught him.

"Wow he really is friendly," She laughed as Total started liking her face. Fang and Iggy listened to her laugh, mesmerized by how care free and light it was. Max was ecstatic; she had always wanted a dog of her own. She kept petting him and laughing as he tried to lick her. It took her a while to realize that she had an audience. She set Total down.

"I'm sorry; now what would you like to order?"

Fang's Pov.

We peeked out from the dumpster we were hiding behind. This is a terrible idea! I can't believe I let the Flock talk me into this. We are going to spy on Max. I don't know about you but doesn't this seem a little …CHILDISH to you? Max has super senses just like the rest of us, there is no way we can follow her without getting caught. Last thing I need for her to think of us as stalkers. I mean, everyone knows that Max really is scared of me. She kept cringing away from me when I talked or said anything. You think it would be funny, but it made me feel like a monster.

"Is she leaving yet?" Gazzy asked

"No," I told him

"Now?"

"no"

"Now?"

"No,"

"How about now?"

"Maybe,"

"What?"

"Gazzy….SHUT UP!" I whisper- shouted at him. Nudge smirked a little.

"There she is!" Angel pointed to Max. We watched Max walk out of the Café, her hair flew behind her like a mane. In a good way of course. I fought the urge to grab her face in my palms and stroke her hair, and kiss her softly on the lips.

"Nudge, Gazzy you guys follow Max from the air, Iggy, Angel, Total and I will follow her," I instructed them. Nudge and Gazzy took off without saying another word. I grabbed Angel's hand and we walked out into the street together. Iggy started following slightly behind us. Every now and then Angel and I would duck into a store and watch Max. Iggy followed her from the other end of the street. He was good, I always lost track of him. Max spun around, and started behind her. She looked all tense. Angel yanked my hand; I bent down to pretend I was tying her shoe. Max's walking picked up speed.

"Fang, she senses us!" Angel said panicked.

"I know," I told her. I scanned the crowds for Iggy; he was walking with a news paper in front of his face. I face palmed myself! Why the hell would a blind kid have newspaper? Oh….right, he's not blind anymore. I wonder if I'll ever get used to the idea. I saw Total, trot behind Iggy. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Max make a turn.

"Come one we have to keep moving!" I urged Angel. I eyed Iggy, he understood. But that idiot still had a newspaper in front of him and ended up crashing into a poll, head first. Yeah, ha-ha very funny, moving on. Angel giggled next to me.

I rounded the corner and almost jumped back. Max was standing right there, she must have been waiting for us. Luckily she was distracted by an old lady who had spilled some of her groceries. Max bent down to help her pick it up, she had a friendly smile on her face. Weird, normally we wouldn't notice these kinds of the things. Angel dragged me into another store before she noticed us.  
"That was close," A voice said behind me. I nearly jumped, but men don't get frightened by voices. It took me a few seconds to realize it was Iggy's.

"Where did- never mind." I stopped, there's no point in trying to figure out Ig's ways.

"Come on Fang, we're gonna lose her!" Angel yelled at me, she dragged Iggy and me out of the store and Total followed us behind. We reached the end of the street in a matter of seconds, but it was too late. We lost her.

"Damn it," Iggy yelled and kicked a fire hydrant. I felt my fist curled and I sucked in a sharp breath. I was so tempted to punch a wall or something right now.

"Angel, do Gazzy and Nudge see her?" Iggy asked.

"No they lost her too," Angel said, I watched her shoulder slump and a pout appear on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll find her, ask Gazzy and Nudge to come back down," I told her.

"Can we go back for another latte? I am absolutely famished!" Total whined.

"How could you be thinking about food…TOTAL YOU'RE A GENIOUS!" Iggy shouted. Angel and I gave him the WTH look; well hers was more "huh," look. Iggy sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We should go back to the café and have Angel read some of the staffs thoughts, one of them should know where Max is going!" Iggy finished and shone proudly at Angel and I.

"Wow, that might actually work," Angel said in shock. Are you in Shock? Cause I sure as hell am.

"Iggy…why didn't you tell me you had a brain?"I asked with a straight face.

"Why didn't tell me you were gay?" Iggy replied. I frowned at him; he was never going to let that go was he?

"Well if you two are done flirting, let's keep moving," Nudge said popping out from the alley behind us. I sighed, but I lead them forward towards the café.

We all rushed in, it was then I realized our mistake. One of the waitresses here seemed to be friends with Max, she kept eyeing us all afternoon.

"You!" She accused pointedly!

"What are you doing here? We're closed, I swear I will call the police if you try anything!" She yelled at us, her voice wavered.

"We just want to ask you a question," Angel said sweetly. When will I ever get used to the sweet Angel again? Don't answer that. The waitress seemed baffled by Angel's sweet behavior. But she quickly regained herself and put her hands around her hips.

"That depends!" She stated

"On?" Gazzy asked.

"The q- what do you need to know?" She said in a daze, I look over to see Angel holding steady contact with her.

"Fang! Ask her!" Angel said through her teeth. I nodded at Angel, and gave the waitress a murderous glare.

"Tell us what you know about Max," I said in a solemn tone.

"She started working here 4 months ago after she was discharged from a local hospital. She was in a terrible car crash; she has permanent amnesia-"the waitress recited as if she were working from a list. "And doesn't remember a thing about her past. Max lives with her sister Bridget, "The waitress stopped talking. I raised my eyebrows at her. Bridget? What was she doing here?

"A car crash? Amnesia?" Gazzy asked.

"Must be her cover story," Nudge answered. Wow, short reply….

"What else can you tell us," I asked the waitress in the same tone as before. I heard Angel grunt in resentment, she must be working hard to keep control of her.

The waitress seemed dazed for a second as if she was thinking.

"She- she has a date tonight….with Sam."

I heard everyone gasp. I felt my fists curl; I could see Iggy had mirrored the same expression I had on my face.

"Where?" I hissed through my clamped teeth.

"Central Park," She answered. I was done with her; I sound around and marched out of the café brooding on the inside. I heard Angel telling the waitress to forget we were ever there.

Soon enough they all trailed out after me. Iggy started chuckling; I turned to glare at him.

"What the he-ck are you laughing about?" I spat at him. He grinned at me evilly.

"I think we have a date to crash," Iggy said in a sinister voice. I raised an eyebrow at him, and then grinned myself.

I felt better already.

**Sorry its soo suckish, I rushed to finish it so I could have it up for you guys to read!**

**This chapter should have been another 1,000 words longer, but I just cut it all off so I could post this up.**

**I understand if you don't want to review, Cuz that was a horrible chapter. **

**P.S It was unedited, so sorry for mistakes too!**

**~Kiki out…..**


	8. Date Crashers

**So I saw this review….and well….I felt guilty and just had to update. I'm gonna try my damn hardest to finish this story for you guys. But you might have to kick my butt a little. **

**Chapter 8: Date Crashers **

**Iggy POV**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride**

"Nudge! Get your foot out of my mouth,"

"Get your mouth away from my foot,"

"Stop scratching me!"

"I didn't do anything! It was the branches!"

I took a deep sigh, and tried to ignore Angel and Nudge's usual bickering. They're were too many of them any more for me to count on my fingers. What in the hell was Fang thinking sticking me with the runts? Who put that emotion less wall of a good for nothing bird kid in charge?

Oh right…Max. Damn, despite how strongly I have Fang at this moment, her name is not a word I can say with any amount of bitterness.

"Shut you pie holes or I'll shut them for you!" I threatened the two diva queens hiding in the tree with me.

"You said pies hole!" Angel giggled, laughing childishly like the seven year old she was. I pouted as my ego took a serious blow, why couldn't they take me seriously? Oh that right, because now I'm the not so blind pyro kid who enjoys blowing stuff up. Well can't say I blame them.

"The only thing that shuts my pie whole is pie," Nudge replied shaking her head seriously, before starting a debate with Angel about apple pie versus pumpkin. (Apple for the win! I silently cheered). I rolled my eyes, about right now would have been a good time for the daily "That's so Total," diva tantrum to start.

"Hey!" Angel huffed indignantly, and then mumbled under her breath "I'm way more interesting than a dog," I bit back a laughter, I guess she forgot that my hearing is even more exceptional for a bird kid.

Right now, Angel, Nudge, and I were in the trees of central park, the very same place those police chased us away ever so long ago. We were nestled tightly on the highest branch. We had a clear view of the park below us, and the moon and stars above our head. Angel predicted that this spot was we're Max and that wiener would show up for a date. We were, as Fang puts it, 'spying' on Max's date.

_Call it whatever you want Fang, but most people consider this stalking! _I thought to myself.

Did I mention Max and sir Romeo of the men in tights, were going for a beautiful moon lit walk under the twinkling lights of the Manhattan sky? Note the sarcasm in my thoughts. I sliently pleaded for death witnessing the horrifying 'thing' that spinless loser called a 'date.'

The set up was just…ugh…. I had shivers running up my back. Wiener boy brought out the picnic basket and candles. One thing was for sure, this kid watched way too many chick flicks. He is a hundred years too early to date someone like Max. God, that kid better grow some balls before I go down and kick his non-existent ones- I thought venomously.

"Iggy! Please, keep your mind somewhat PG. And I this is actually very romantic, and not many guys are this sensitive"

"Sensitive my butt, he still needs to grow some balls," Nudge glares at me, kicks my shins, as swiftly, quietly, and hard as only a bird kid can.

"Ow!"

"You totally deserved that! Why do you have to be so pervy all the time? I mean really Iggy have you ever had a single thought with a clean word?" Whoa, hold the banana phone! I'm getting scolded by Nudge of all bird kids? Stupid Wiener boy, this was probably his fault too!

"Yeah actually I do, all the time!" Especially when I think of Max . . . my eyes conveniently looked over her intervened hands and settled for her face. Her eyes weren't on that wiener, no they were staring off into a much further place. There was no end to the depth in her eyes at the moment, her gaze reached to the stars. It made me wonder… since when did Max have such an absent minded look in her eyes?

"Are you hungry?" Sam asked her, and in my opinion, a voice too high to belong to a man. "I hope you are; I made this food myself." His face slightly flushed. Max nodded and sat up from the dweebs shoulder. Sam attempted to make small talk with Max, his eyes never really leaving her face.

"Huh, that funny…" Sam suddenly said. I grinned evilly, Opernation "Date Crashers" was a go!

"What?"

"The dressing bottle is stuck," Sam granted and yanked harder. I saw the bottle come out in his hand and bundle of black cotton fly through the air and land in Max's lap.

"A…a… puppy!" She squealed in delight. That little mutt ball snuck into the picnic basket, I thought with a grin. Total barked and snuggled his nose into Max's neck. "Oh Sam thank you so much," Max sighed happily. Hmm, we just made things better. What the heck was Fang thinking? Sam quickly covered up his dazed expression with a bottom less smile. I gritted my teeth, the kid tried to take advantage of the moment and land a kiss on Max.

"Angel!" I whined. She nodded, and concentrated hard. I saw Total swivel his head in jerky moments and licked Sam's lips. Max began laughing breathlessly, and scratched Total behind the ears. Wiener boy pulled his head back in shock and started wiping his mouth off. Poor Total hid his face in shame. "Angel…you really can be evil sometimes," I complimented her; Angel giggled in response. Poor Total…

"I think he likes you," Max giggled. Sam blushed in response.

"Yeah, a bit much don't you think," He said rather nervously. Max laughed and leaned down to kiss Total's head when he started whining. If this keeps up, I just might be jealous of that dog! Sam got up again to retrieve more food, when I loud fart shot out of him. I slapped my hands over my mouth, preventing a laugh from bursting out. Max and Sam both blushed brilliantly, and Max looked away.

"It wasn't me I swe-"Sam started when another more constipated sequel of farts followed. God did I love that gaseous kid.

"S-sam," Max blushed and looked away uncomfortably. "If-if you're not feeling well we c-can do this an-nother time." She said stumbling in her words.

"No Max," He says trying to walk closer, but with every step more and more farts came out. "It's not me I swear!"

"I'd like to believe you Sam, but…" Max says uncomfortably. Total stood up and bravely barked out against Sam. I blinked in surprise, that mutt actually mastered the art of barking!

"Angel," I started "Make him do something unwise. Nudge put a bottle in his hands," I chuckled. Angel and Nudge both shouted and delight and concentrated hard. Then Sam suddenly shouted out "Shut up you stupid dog," and kicked Total, who went flying into the Max's arms.

"Sam!" Max exclaimed in shock, her eyes flew to his hands. "Are you drunk?"

"What no!" Sam shouted back at her murderously. Max lips quivered for a second, and she pointed at his hands.

"I didn't even realize this was here."

"Sam are you lying to me again?" Max said close to tears. Damn I thought running this date would be fun, but I didn't think we'd be making Max cry.

"No Max I-" Sam started to say when his pants suddenly slipped off him. Max screamed and turned her head away. Fang…he's good. I quickly covered Angel's and Nudge's eyes to prevent them from seeing anything else. The dweeb was wearing gold fish boxers…I literally have no comments. I watched Sam frantically bend down to pull his pants back up, but another large fart emitted from his ass.

"Sam, I'll see you tomorrow at work," Max said quickly and started walking away. Total jumped out off Max's arms and ran at the dweeb. Without hesitation he bit him…in the crotch.

"That's one brave dog," I heard Fang's voice come from next to me. We fist fived while listening to the sweet sound of the Wiener's pain. Total trotted away with Sam's jeans in his mouth, proudly like he was holding a trophy. Angel and Nudge were laughing like hyenas and the Gasman was nowhere to be seen, though I'm willing to bet you he was probably rolling the grass trying to control himself.

"Come on, we have to go after Max," Fang declared in his "I'm trying to be authoritve" voice. I rolled my eyes, but went along with him. This was probably the most fun I've ever had in my life! And that includes the Disney trip. We opened our wings and let the wind catch us as we stepped of the branches. And like that, we were in the air again.

#######

"I can't believe we lost her!" Gazzy whined, and then took a sweeping dive to avoid the strong gust of air plummeting him. I tilted my wing the left, and swung closer to him and Angel.

"She can't be far," I began "Angel, is there any way you tell if Max is in the air?"

"Nope, I can't read her mind, but I can read Total's. There on the ground, I'd say about half a mile away from here."

"Then let's go," Fang replies, zooming ahead. I sigh at Fang's childishness; I swear that dudes pissin me off. We started descending rapidly. The city lights of New York were catching up to us faster than we could expect. We landed abruptly on our feet, surprisingly in our hurry, the Gasman tripped. Of course we made fun of him, never miss the chance to mock a bird kid, it's like an unspoken rule among us.

"Now where do we go Angel?"

"Take a left in 500 feet,"

"Are you sure she's around here? I don't think Max would hang out in alley ways." I intercepted before Fang could beat me to the punch once again and smiled smugly when he shot me the usual glare. What's his problem?

"I guess we'll find out," The Gasman mimicked Fang's voice. Fang grinned and punched Gazzy's arm.

As usual, Angel was never wrong. But the position we found Max in was shocking. She was tightly clutching her head, and was bent over breathing heavily. Total was rapidly licking her face trying to calm her down. Without warning, my body ran before my mind even accepted what happened. Fang was right beside me, never loosing stride. He rushed to Max's side and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Max! Snap out of it! Max!" He shouted in panic. This is Mr. I have no emotions we're talking about here. Something was wrong with Max, and only Fang seemed to be the one to realize how serious it was. Angel and Nudge hid behind my legs, frightened to see Max look like she was in so much pain. "Is it you're head? Is the voice back?" Fang mumbled trying to break through her whimpering. I clenched my fists, feeling like a useless loser.

"No…no more," Max mumbled before her head rolled back and a loud scream escaped her lips. I held back Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge with all my strength. Max was having a panic attack. And although she didn't remember us anymore, her body seemed to remember being in Fang's arms. Not mine…I wouldn't be of any use here. Fang only held her tighter, causing jealousy to burn through my veins.

"Fang..." Max mumbled before completely blacking out. Sweat rolled down on our temples as the moment of silence never seemed to end. I placed my finger around Max's neck, checking for a pulse.

"She's unconscious Fang," I mumbled, unable to move my eyes from her sleeping face. Fang nodded his head in reply.

"Let's fly," He whispered, shaking his wings out and doing an abrupt up-and-away. Five bird kids shot after him. My heart clenched inside my chest. For the first time in my life, I heard Max scream like that, and for the first time in my life, I saw a broken expression on Fang's face.

Never again will she scream like that- I vowed.

**Because I started writing this story so long ago, I had to come up with a new story line. I won't change anything that I've written thus far, but I will try my hardest to write a story that will satisfy all my readers. Thanks for liking my story.**

**I'm open to all new ideas **

**~kiki1607**


	9. Burgers and Talks

**I want to thank those who came back to my story, and for the new readers who read through my crappy writing in the beginning :P I'm gonna work my hardest to finish this story**

**I'm open to new ideas and suggestions **

**P.S I'm not very happy with latest MR book **

**P.P.S. Sorry guys but this chapter is gonna be a little more serious. I swear I'll make the rest more funny! Warning: Another filler**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR **

Chapter 9: Burgers and Talks

I ignored the sweat rolling down my temples. I tugged my black leather jacket closer to my body, trying to prevent the wind from attacking the sleeping girl in my arms. Max hadn't woken once since we took off from New York. It was a snap decision, but I know at that moment, Max had to come with us.

The voice was defiantly back. She was starting to remember us . . . then the damn voice had to interfere. Knowing Max, after her panic attack, she probably decided to shut her own mind down. Meaning, whatever she did remember, she forgot again.

I shot a quick glance at our flock, they were tiring rapidly. We had been flying for almost eight hours. I sighed, I really wanted to get Max home without stopping, but the little ones definitely couldn't handle the fly anymore.

"We're going down," I instructed, "twenty minute breakfast break," Iggy and Gazzy flew closer to me flanking both sides as we started to descend.

"Fang, shouldn't we just fly straight to home?" The Gasman asked me. I shook my head, and kept descending. No one argued, and I could see the secretly relieved faces of my bird kids. I lightly smiled as I stared at Max's face. I was finally getting used to this leader role, and I could easily see why Max's love for the flock was a little different than the one the flock had for each other. It was a much stronger protective kind of love. Yet…she threw all that away because of my idiot mistake.

When Max wakes up, I will put my heart and soul into redeeming myself. I need her to forgive. I couldn't live with myself otherwise. I'll make it up to her and the flock both.

We landed behind a fast food restaurant on a deserted highway. Iggy gave Nudge the remainder of the money we had left. Hopefully Max has her Max Ride card on her, or else we might have to go dumpster driving soon. That or we could put on some kind of freak show "The Amazing Bird Kids who can fly and …Stuff!" I snorted at the thought. I was the last to land, taking wide arching turns to descend. If I landed too abruptly I would jolt Max awake.

"Fang, I can take her from you," Iggy said in rather serious voice. I raised an eyebrow. I didn't know Iggy was capable of being serious. "You've been carrying her for almost eight hours, you must be tired." I shook my head in response and gestured to her hands. She had a death grip on the collar of my shirt. I thanked God, who did not believe in, (because apparently babies are created in test tubes and not by God) that I had air sacks in body along with a pair of lungs, otherwise I would be choking.

"Still, you gotta be tried or something. Max ain't exactly a bag of cotton you know!" Iggy insisted rather persistently. I frowned.

"Actually, I think Max is as light as Angel now or the Gasman" I replied, she was rather easy to carry. Even Total, who weighed a hundred pounds less than Max, tired me out. Or maybe eight hours just wasn't long enough for me to hold onto her. After all, I haven't seen Max in six months, for which I'm mentally cursing Lissa for. The memories eventually came back to me … of what really happened the day Lissa jumped me.

_**FlashBack**_

_I was scanning the educational books, scrunching my nose in disgust. Max probably decided on whim that it was time for us to "educate" ourselves. Maximum Ride is known for her famous life or death snap-decisions. I smiled as I got lost in my memories of her. _

_It only took me seven years, but I finally managed to crack Max's walls. Since that day in the submarine off the coast of Hawaii, Max slowly began to open up to me more and more. More so that she ever had before. I loved every bit of the inner Max that only I had the privilege of meeting. She was finally mine. I was free to caress her without having her run away or reject me. _

_I roll my eyes at how far my mind had strayed from my objective. I wonder if I should do a face-palm about now? Nah, it's not really my character. My character huh….Max always asked me when we were younger why I was so quiet. The silence irked her back then and she made it a personal goal to break my silence. Around the same time I made it my personal goal to break down her walls. I think I won. _

_I wasn't always silent brooding emo looking kid. My earliest memories of being in the "school" were probably around the age three, a year before I met Max. I will shamelessly admit…I was a crybaby. I cried out of pain, I cried out of hunger, I cried out of fright. I cried for everything. The white coats clearly didn't tolerate crying, I got extra beatings compared to most experiment. When I was four I learned two things: Crying doesn't get you anywhere, actions speak louder than words. _

_The second one especially proved to be true. I shut my trap and good things happened. I met Max and Iggy, then later the rest of the Flock, and we escaped the school with the help of Jeb. All because I learned to keep my mouth shut. It seemed that actions seemed to give me what I wanted when words didn't. I guess the same thing applied to Max. _

"_Fang…is that you?" A sickly sweet voice asked. I spun around ready to attack my visitor. Lissa? Ouch…my head hurts. _

"_What do you want?" I say. Yup, I'm defiantly a man of many words. Despite my expressionless face, I was gritting my teeth hard. My head was raging, like I was being pulled away from my own conscious. A wicked smile colored Lissa's face. Her green eyes turned into a deep green and became slits…almost like a cat. _

End Flashback

I groaned as the memory came back. That was literally the last thing I remembered about that day. Somehow, getting slapped the hell out brought me back to my senses. It also helped that Max was in my arms at the moment. The familiarity of her warmth brought back more and more memories. I guess we were both alike in that way, losing the most important thing a bird kid had. Our memories…

"Why did you do it man?" Iggy finally spoke up for the first time in what seemed like hours since the younger members of the flock disappeared. I averted my eyes from his creepy firm gaze. Iggy was literally my best friend next to Max. If anyone, I trusted Iggy the most, second to Max. Though to the Flock it looked like we fought all the time…it really wasn't like that for us. It was almost like…we became brothers through our rivalry.

"What does the excuse matter . . . in the end what happened was still my fault," I shook my head. Beside me Iggy sniggered, before a serious expression replaced his laugh.

"Fang . . . there's something you should know," He began; I looked away from Max's face for the first time, showing Ig he had my attention. "I lov-"

"FANG FANG FANG!" Angel and Nudge screaming running out of the fast food place; behind him were a happy looking Gasman and Total (with another latte in his paws). Gazzy created a little trinket to hold the cup around Total's neck while he sipped through the straw. I groaned in horror.

"Who let Total have caffeine?" I mumbled glaring at Angel and Nudge. They gave me sheepish grins and thrust ten burgers into my hands. I gave them a questioning look. "If you're gonna fly Max ALL the way home, then you're gonna need like a ton of energy. I mean if you don't eat enough then like you could pass out in the middle of a flight or something and drop Max. Or you could suddenly loose you're energy and drop Max. Or if you're tummy growls too loudly then Max is gonna wake up before we get home. You better eat like a TON of mints afterwards, I doubt Max would want to wake up to the smell of ketchup and mustard. That's jus-"Nudge rambled on and on.

I rolled my eyes, but looked to Angel thankfully, and shoved as many burgers into my mouth as I could WITHOUT spilling a SINGLE crumb. Yeah, I'm really talented like that. I was on my ninth one, and still going when the Gazzer and Nudge got impatient and demanded we get home right this instant and wake Max up. I threw the last one to Iggy, who only got five, and shifted Max in my arms carefully, making sure she was always covered with my leather jacket and did and up-and-away.

# # # # # # #

"Home sweet home!" Gazzy shouted as loud as he could and charged into the house like a bull. Nudge and Angel clumsily landed, probably tried from flying from so long, followed by Total, who was complaining about a wing cramp. He was still getting used to flying as well. Iggy and I were the last to land. For some reason, he had a huge smile on his face.

"Ig, lose the creepy smile, you might scare an innocent creature," I say nonchalantly. Iggy flipped me the bird and walked into the house like a drama queen, only stopping to say "Welcome home Max," In a gentle voice. My arms tightened around Max. Something about his voice irritated me. Iggy, I believe skipped, into the kitchen mumbling something about grand dinner. I took Max upstairs to my room.

Lissa had converted Max's room when she disappeared. I doubt Max would want to wake up in slut world. I placed her down on my bed, and carefully pried her fingers off my jacket. I was starting to worry; she hadn't woken since last night, while we were frikken flying about 100 miles per hour, not joking, from New York all the way to Colorado.

Well now that I had Max back, it's time that I start apologizing to the Flock. Maybe if I blow a life size doll that looked like Lissa, and send it to hell a thousand times over, they'd forgive me. Or maybe some ridiculous gag joke. I could always prank Iggy and Gazzy- Angel and Nudge would love that. Worst case scenario I'll have to resort to…that…shopping. I mentally shuddered at the thought of being stuck in a mall with Angel and Nudge. No amount of red bulls, wrestling matches, or COD would get my manliness back.

"Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang…" I hear two whiny voices, whine, from behind me. I roll my head back, yup, Angel and Nudge. The eager look in their eyes gave me the shivers. I gave them the "what'dya want face," and of course they reply with "LETS HAVE A PARTY!"

"A party?" I ask; I was already starting to feel scared for my life.

"Yeah, a welcome home party for Max," Angel says excitedly. Which is the last thing I hear before Nudge drowns her voice out by telling me of all her party plans. A small smile came to my face. For once, those girls were acting their age. Even Angel's cheeks were flushed in excitement. ". . . and Gazzy's making fireworks, and Iggy's gonna cook up this grand feast and then, and then," Nudge said so rapidly, that for the first time EVER she actually ran out of air. I got up silently (and damn stealthily like Ninja if I do say so myself) and walked over to my secret piggy bank.

Back when Max or Jeb used to hand out allowance, the Flock spent all their money on food or bombs. But I saved mine because…I wanted to take Max on a proper date one day. Yeah that's right; I planned these things five years in advanced. I smashed it open and unrolled as many 20 dollar bills as I could find and threw it to Angel.

"Nudge, you're in charge, Angel, you handle the money, and take Gazzy with you," I nodded. Those kids . . . were growing up. It's time they were allowed their own responsibilities. Angel and Nudge smiled brightly and both lunged at me. Now me being a paranoid bird kid and all got ready for an attack, so imagine my surprise when I got a hug.

"Thanks Fang! You're the best!" They exclaim in unison. Kiss ups . . . I thought. I gently shook them off.

"Whatever, just don't go over the top. We don't want to scare her," I say, trying to hide a smirk. I was secretly pleased that the girls had forgiven me enough to engage in contact without the abuse. Not that their hugs were better than Max's or anything. Actually I don't think Max ever gave me a hug. I really am a pathetic excuse of a bird boyfriend.

Angel and Nudge ran out of my room, grabbed Gazzy, and let Iggy in on the plan. I heard them take off excitedly, in all their excitement, they forgot rule number 43- always make a silent take offs and landing. Only one of Max's five billion rules she set on us. Can't blame her, after all she had to take care of FIVE BIRD kids, not just any old munchkins.

Now that I finally had my room to myself, I sank into my bed next to Max. I smoothed out her golden tresses. She must have been taking care of herself in the last six months because they were super silky. Max shivered under my touch and light snore followed. I bit back a laugh; she was only sleeping all this time.

"Wake up already Max. I have so much to say. So much to tell you. So much to apologize for. Please wake up," I whispered to her hoping my words would reach her. She didn't even stir. I sighed, and leaned forward and kissed her forehead. I grabbed a pillow and made myself comfy on the ground next to her. Might as well take a nap.

**I've gotten a lot of reviews in the past requesting me to let them know if this is going to be a Fax or Miggy pairing.**

…**.**

…**..**

…**..**

**I DON'T KNOW! I'm torn actually because I love the Fax pairing as much as I love Miggy! I love Fang and all that, but I kinda stopped loving him after **_**Fang, **_**the book. I began hating him in **_**Angel. **_**I guess I'll figure out if I like him or not after Nevermore. **

**So it looks like neither of us are going to know if this story is a Fax or Miggy story :P**

**I also want to apologize for writing another filler. I promise that the story will pick up from the next chapter on wards! **


	10. You're Not Max

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum ride or any of the Characters.**

**I'm still debating between Miggy and Fax! So review and leave you're vote!**

Chapter 10: You're not Max

Max POV

I let out a soft moan as memories of yesterday flooded back into my head; my birthday, singing at the café, the horrible date, the puppy, and lastly the pain. I gently ran my finger through my head along my scalp checking for bumps or bruises. I must have hit my head or something for that kind of excruciating pain.

I rolled over buried myself deeper into the dark navy blue comforters, a familiar smell filtered through my nose. I never wanted to get up.

"Oh," I gasped springing out of the bed. Familiar smell…nothing was familiar to me. Not after the accident. I scanned the bedroom that I was currently sleeping in. Oh no, did I get kidnapped? Nothing was familiar to me, yet I felt like I'd been here many times before. I stretched my legs down the side of the bed and sat up straight. My hands traveled to my hair. I frowned wondering why on earth it was so fluffy.

I tried to stand up, but I tripped over something big and bulky on the ground. I fell face first on rough hardwood floor. I whimpered and rubbed my smashed up nose. I looked for the source of my fall, and gasped. It was that beautiful scary boy from the alley . . . the one whose kiss felt familiar.

He groaned when I tripped and rolled over to the side, but he didn't wake up. I sighed in relief. I stared at his sleeping face . . . he looked so peaceful, and harmless. No I can't let myself think that, he nearly beat a poor man to death. I need to get out of here now. I crawled away from him, stood up, smoothed down my skirt and slowly crept out of his room.

I was definitely in an unfamiliar house. I need to leave fast and get back to Bridget; she must be so worried about me. I scampered through the house as quietly as I could. Somewhere in the back of my mind was I really thankful that my clothes were all in place, so maybe he didn't do anything to me. I tiptoed down the stairs, I began to hear voices.

"Total! Don't drink that!" I heard a scream. "Gimme back my coffee! Total!"

"Nudge, don't do it!"

"Ahh! She really did it! She chucked Total out the widow!"

"Calm down Gazzer, he can fly remember, 'sides shouldn't you be getting the explosives ready?"

"Hell yeah! I have enough to blow up the White House even!"

"Hey I think we should surprise Max," A softer voice started. I winced at the sound of my name. I was already covering my mouth with my hand trying not to scream after hearing their conversation. "We'll turn off all the lights and cover her eyes and lead her into this room!"

"Yeah, and then we should fire the explosives and Iggy should bring 'that' in"

"'_That' _already?"

"Then Gazzy should do his interrogation skit,"

"Should I be good cop or bad cop?"

"Both," A ton of laughter followed that statement. I took a few deep breaths and willed my heart to calm down. I peeked around the corner of the wall, the monsters were all standing in the kitchen with their backs to me. If I could just get across the living room and to the front door, I could escape this place.

I wrapped my arms around my chest trying to calm my heart and slowly inched forward. Now that I was out in the open there was no turning back. I made my footsteps as light as possible and ducked as I walked past the sofa and coffee table. Almost there . . . just a few more steps and I would be out of here!

But Lady Luck was not on my side, my foot caught on the leg of the coffee table sending me flying forward. I let out a loud oomph and threw my arms out to catch my fall. I landed with a heavy thump.

"Who's there?" I hear a scream. Three blonde headed children and one mocha colored girl all rushed into the living room. No! I was almost there! I can't give up yet. I forcefully pushed myself to my feet and made a ran towards the front door.

"Max! Wait!" I hear a scream. But I don't wait. I want to leave! I want to go home to where Bridget and Ian were. I wanted to go back to Sam and J.J., I wanted anything but to be here right now. I yanked the door open and ran out blindly.

The hot burning sun temporarily blinded my vision. I could hear the hard beating of my feet running on wood. Red mountains came into my view. I screamed and skid to a stop. Sweat rolled down my temples as I looked in front of me. One more step, and I would have fallen down a deep valley trench.

"I . . . I'm trapped," I sobbed. There was no way out, these monster were going to kill me. I spun around as soon as I heard the heavy foot falls behind me. My body began to tremble all over.

"Wait Max! Please, don't cry," The shorter blonde boy exclaimed. My sobs increased and soon I was sputtering nonsense.

"Max, don't be afraid of us! See it's just me, Nudge! And that's Angel and Gazzy; their siblings. See the tall blonde kid, that's Iggy, you're best friend." The mocha colored girl says trying to sooth my crying. But it only made my cry harder.

"Why . . . why are you saying those things?" I sob "You kidnapped me didn't you? Then why would you start saying things like we're family? FAMLIES DON'T DO THAT!" I scream hysterically. "You're . . . you're monsters!" I shout. The look of surprise colored their faces. I looked behind me. There were only valleys; there was no other way out. It didn't take me long to decide whether I wanted to live with these monsters or live at all. Please forgive me Bridget, I thought.

I shut my eyes tight and ran forward as fast as I could. Soon my feet were no longer touching ground, and I was freefalling.

"MAX!" I hear them shout. I manage to crack one eye open. The sky was so . . . blue. The last thing I saw before losing conscious were black wings. Blacker than the night sky.

# # # # # #

Fang Pov

"Fang, I think she's waking up now!" Angel exclaimed, her face brightening up instantly. I hid smirk. It was amusing how the thought of just talking to Max brought a smile to those kids' faces. But the smirk quickly faded away as he recalled the situation in which he found Max.

He woke up to the sound of her screaming the word monster. It immediately set off warning bells in his head. Instead of rushing downstairs, he jumped out the window to see if the attackers were outside. Imagine his surprise when he saw Max free falling off the side of a cliff, he waited a moment to see if she would span her wings, but she never did. Without thinking, he divided forward to catch her. She was already unconscious when he got to her.

When he brought her back to the room, the flock informed him of her attempt of suicide. It didn't sit right with Fang. The Max he knew would never do that kind of thing. He called the party off and told them they'd have to approach Max in a more subtle way so that she didn't hyperventilate. After all, as of now, they were her kidnappers.

A soft moan interrupted Fang's thoughts. He uncrossed his legs, and pushed off the wall he was leaning on, and stood protectively behind Angel and Nudge. His face slightly softened when he saw the two. Angel and Nudge were both holding on to Max's hands.

"Remember to smile, so you don't startle her," Iggy told them. He too was standing beside Fang. His face had a small smile as well. But that wouldn't fool Fang. He could see how startled Iggy was. His deep blue eyes (they changed color after the surgery) were starting to pale.

Max's eyes fluttered open. Her hand pulled out of Angel and Nudges grasp and reached for the skies, as if she was trying to grasp something. She clenched and unclenched her fists. "I'm . . . still alive?" She mumbled sleepily.

"MAX!" Angel and Nudge exclaimed, tackling her into a hug. Even the Gasman sprung forward and leapt up on my bed. "You're okay," they exclaim, hugging her happily. Max blinked, she still looked half asleep. Angel and Nudge started chattering away, I only managed to catch brief words like shopping, movies, museum, new teddy bear, and Total. Gazzy too added in his two cents: talking about his new explosives. Iggy was grinning widely. But for some reason, I had the strangest feeling of forebrooding.

"No . . . NO!" Max screamed, crawling backwards as fast as she could. She tugged the blanket with her, as if she was trying to hide. I quickly grabbed Angel and Nudge's shoulders and yanked them away from her. She was panicking. "Don't touch me! I just want to go home. Please . . . don't hurt me!" She sobbed, tears freely falling down her face.

"Max we're not going to hurt you!" Iggy tried to soothe her. Angel and Nudge started shaking under my arms. They probably never saw Max so startled before. I don't blame them. This isn't the Max that I know. Max would never waste her tears like that. She would never cower away from anything. Who is she?

"Don't- you can't fool me! I saw you with my own eyes. You nearly killed that man!" Max sobbed once more. "You're monsters!" She whispered.

This time I couldn't hold back; I snarled loudly and pushed Angel and Nudge out of my way. "No-" Max tried to mumble. I grabbed her chin and yanked her face forward. I poured every bit of my hatred toward this fake Max into my glare. She began quivering.

"Fang don't. You're scaring her man!" Iggy exclaimed trying to pry me away from her. I pushed him aside as well and made sure Max only looked at me and no one else.

"_If we are monsters, than so are you," _I snarled at her. Max's entire body began shaking. Sweat rolled down her temples and into her golden hair. Her wide chocolaty colored shrunken in size. _"Because you . . . are one of us,"_ I rashly turn her chin to face Angel and Nudge. The two girls were nearly in tears. I forced her chin the other direction to see Gazzy sniffling and clutching Total tightly. Max's eyes widened in realization. I released her chin, and pushed her back.

"All of you, get out of here now," I command in my absolute no nonsense voice. Reluctantly they leave one by one, till it was just Iggy, Max, and I left in the room. She stopped crying and shaking, I glare at her one last time. "You are only a fraction of what my Maximum Ride is. I want nothing to do with you," I hiss angrily. I turned around and stalked away.

Iggy stood between me and the door. His eyes looked tormented. I glare at him. My orders were absolute, if he were to betray me at this moment, there would be consequences. I silently prayed that Iggy would listen to me. He glanced at Max one last time, who was no curled into a ball, and back at me. Iggy nodded. I followed him out.

"I got you're back . . . Fang,"

**Sorry for the long break. I just got out of school a week ago, and I finally got through all my finals. THANK GOD.**

**So here are something's I want to establish:**

**Max's personality after she lost her memories is that she's really nice, shy, and kind of a coward if you haven't noticed.**

**Fang is a lot more mature now, and he's really like the protective older brother of the flock**

**Iggy and Fang, as you will see soon, have this unbreakable bond between them as brothers. **

**Fang CANT STAND this new Max. **

**How will Iggy feel about her?**

**P.S I promised that I wouldn't do another filler right?**

**P.P.S. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**

**~kiki1607 out**


	11. Monsters

**You guys . . . are the most AMAZING fans in the world! Thank you for being so understanding and not cursing me for my ridiculously slow updates. I love you guys so much, and for you guys I will definitely finish this story! Never stop kicking my butt about updating!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride **

I read Date Crashers for the first time since I posted . . .and I cracked up! I thought: no way in he-double hockey sticks- did I write that!

Kiki's Advice (My real name is not Kiki, but I love that name so much): If you are a passionate writer then love what you write. If yours story is funny, then laugh while you write it, if your story is romantic, then "Aww" with it, if it's sad, then cry with it, it's hateful and angry, feel the burning passion while you are writing. It's okay to put your emotions into your writing, just keep your characters in mind.

Chapter 11: Monsters

Iggy Pov

The sizzling of stir fried veggies made my mouth water. I did a quick taste check, it needed more soy sauce. I grabbed the bottle without looking and poured it in generously. While the veggies fried, I started to add the rice and soy sauce to my fried rice. I gave it a quick stir and bent down to check the chicken in the oven, it was baking well. Lastly, I did a quick taste check of the teriyaki sauce . . . ahh ecstasy! This is what I called heaven!

Dinner was coming along quite well. It was Max's favorite Japanese food. Now we had stir fry veggies, fried rice, and teriyaki chicken with a hell of a lot of cake left over from our "Welcome party." Sadly it ended even before it began.

After putting the final touches of dinner together and setting all the massive proportions of food on the table, I grabbed another plate and piled up a little bit of everything, grabbed a slice of chocolate cake (there were also chocolate chips in the cake part . . . Praise my ingenious mind!), a glass of water and started to head up. But the conversation in the living room stopped me.

"Maybe we were too harsh Fang?" Angel said. I stared at my feet guiltily. I get why Fang did what he did, but that didn't mean I liked watching it. I peeked into the living room to see all the bird kids and the leader sitting on the couches. Angel's head was buried in Fang's lap, and Gazzy sat close to Fang so that they were almost touching. Nudge sat across from Fang, and seemed to be the only one (besides Fang) who didn't have puffy eyes. When did she grow up so much?

Fang sighed. "You can apologize to her later." He replied stoically. I scrunched my nose and attempted to roll my eyes. Leave it to Fang to not show any emotion.

"What about you?"

"I don't take back what I said,"

"Should one of us go check up on her?" Gazzy asked after a long pregnant pause. He looked to Fang expectantly.

One thing for sure, in the short time that Fang ditched that _B._ Lissa, the Flock started looking up to Fang more than usual. It was a strange thing to witness, but in his own way Fang made a really tight bond with the Flock. It was a little different than with Max, but important in its own way. Maybe with Max, she was like the mother, always babying us and scolding us. Whereas with Fang, he was like a father, slowly letting you grow and leading you down the right path. What a depressing thought. Where the hell does that leave me?

"I think Iggy's got it," Fang finally replied, his eyes rolling over to where I was. I muffle laughter at his smug grin. The rest of Flock spotted me out.

"Gah, can't hide anything from you huh Fnickie?" I tsked, shaking my head dramatically. Fang's smirk widened.

"That goes without saying,"

"Papa Bear just see's everything huh?"

"Quite spouting Shi-crap and go give her the food!"

"Nice catch Fnickles, yo birdkids, you're dinners on the table," I say, and stick my tongue out in Fang's direction. The Flock's faces immediately brighten at the mention of food and they climb over one and another to get into the dining room. Even Fnickles began to run. You know what they say . . . last birdkid to the table gets the chicken leg!

I wondered if I should knock before entering Fang's room, where Max was currently staying. But that wasn't really my style, so I just walked in. Max was in the position we left her in over an hour ago. She was still curled up in ball sobbing silent tears. I silently set the tray beside her and sat down on the bed. She flinched, finally noticing my presence. She looked at me with teary eyes, I stared back at her evenly. I half expected her to look away but she never did.

My cheeks began to heat up. So this was Maximum Ride . . . she was more beautiful than she was in the pictures. This is the girl that I grew up with, the beauty that was beside me from the very beginning. Fang said that she's not the Max that we knew anymore . . . how much of that was actually true?

"You should eat," I say quietly, and add a slightly smile. She stared at the food nervously. I sigh, "It's not poisoned or anything you know. If we wanted you dead there would be easier ways of doing that," I snicker, much much easier ways to kill a person. She still didn't look completely convinced, so I grabbed the fork and took a big bite of fried rice . . . definitely cooked to perfection. I pushed the tray back in front of her.

"Eat," I command a little more firmly. Max nodded hesitantly and began eating small bites. Her eyes instantly widened, and she began eating faster. I laughed smugly. "I'm a pretty good cook aren't I?"

"You made this?" Max said barely above a whisper. I gave her a peace sign and winked. She smiled a little (YES one for Iggy zero for Fang!). Then she looked at me apologetically, and tears started rolling down her face once more. "I- I'm sorry. You're . . . not bad people, right?" I pondered that question.

"You decide," I say lazily, and lean back on the bed. Max giggled a little. What a pretty laugh, I thought dreamily. I cracked one eye open to see Max happily devouring her food. She was starting to look a little better now.

"What about that time in the alley?" She asks.

"Max, do you really think we could stand to watch some man invade you're privacy like that? Can you blame us for getting murderously angry seeing a girl going through that?" I ask seriously, clenching my fists into tight balls. I hissed loudly trying to calm my nerves. "Besides, we don't fight to kill, we fight to protect and survive,"

"Oh, I see. So you're not monsters," Max states. I flinch at that word. Monsters . . . it was a taboo among the Flock members. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say it again!" Max added quickly. I shook my head.

"No it's okay. You probably don't remember why that word would hurt us anymore."

"Will you tell me? I hurt those kids and that boy badly, didn't I? I want to know what I said was wrong so that I can apologize," She pleaded with wide eyes. I smile, her eyes were so hard to resist. Fang described her as having chocolate eyes, but to me they look more like caramel. I settled myself into Fang's bed, crossing my arms behind my head, and stared at his ridiculous navy blue ceiling. This room was seriously starting to depress me. No wonder Max would be scared waking up in here.

"Probably, because that word describes us . . . in the truest way," I muttered in defeat. "I should probably tell ya about our past first. About those wings on your back."

"Ehh, how did you know I had wings?"

"Cuz we do too! Come on, you saw Fang's wings earlier too,"

"When?"

"Hahaha, don't tell me you had your eyes closed or something, that was by far the funniest nose dive rescue attempt I'd ever seen in my life!"

"So . . . he saved me huh . . . do you know how to fly too Iggy?" She asked, curiosity brightening her chocolate brown eyes. My cheeks immediately flamed red.

"Y-yeah, you taught me when we were younger,"

"_I_ taught you?" She exclaimed in shock. I laughed awkwardly. I should probably tell her about her past, but that would mean the part about Fang and Max's relationship. What if she fell for him again? I sighed, the feeling of depression clouding my judgment. I'm being really stupid. Max deserves to know who she used to love. Though my chances are small . . . maybe she won't remember and I'd actually have a chance this time! No that'd be unfair. I have to win Max from Fang fair and square. Right, so either way I have to tell her about her past with Fang.

"I . . . well, I'd tell you, but it has a lot to do with your past. You sure you're ready to know?"

"Absolutely! I want . . . to apologize to those children for saying they are monsters, but I don't understand why it hurt them so much. So if I apologized now, it would be meaningless," She insisted with big wide sincere eyes. I cracked a grin. This Max wasn't so bad either.

"Let's see . . . . You, Maximum Ride, are Itex's Multimillion dollar experiment and the first ever successful avian-human. After you came Fang, myself, Nudge, Gazzy and lastly Angel."

"You have a _unique_ name," Max cut, carefully choosing her words, probably not to offend me. Please, I'm not moody like Fangles, nor am I easily upsetted.

"Probably because we chose them ourselves when we were younger. Expect for Angel, you named her,"

"I did?"

"It's part of the story. Itex is made up of a bunch of inhumane scientists who view the word 'life' from a scientific perspective. To them humans are merely mammals made of blood, DNA, and . . . err flesh I guess. Geez, I feel stupid. Anywho, to those bastard scientists created us and therefore we automatically became nothing more than experiments. That's not how we see it of course. We're just more awesome than humans because we have wings.

"And well . . . for about the first eleven years (you, me and Fang are the same age) we were experimented on. I think you should be happy you don't remember this part. I'd love to forget about you know. Their experiments were down right cruel and inhumane. But when we turned eleven, a man named Jeb, broke the six of us out of Itex. He took care of us for about two years. We looked but to the man like a father.

"The bastard took off on us about two years later. Life was living hell after that. We got chased by these psychotic five year olds. They had their DNA and stuff altered like us. They were like . . . a sown together half-wolf –slash- five year olds. We called them Erasers. Cuz their job was to erase us. Stupid scientists.

"Those kids were altered beyond help . . . the kindest thing we could do for them was put em outta their misery," I paused as Max gasped and stared at me with horror filled eyes. I almost wanted to stop talking. But the Max I knew was no sissy, I'm sure she'll tough this part out as well. "So when the Erasers attacked, we more or less . . . beat the shit out of them."

"Did . . . did we k-kill anyone?" She asked. Should I answer that? Yeah I probably should.

"Well, we may have occasionally thrown an Eraser under a bus or somethin. But you gotta understand Max, it was either us or them. And I don't regret a single day choosing us. So yeah we are monsters. We killed and beat five year olds senseless." I conclude my Shakespearian length monologue. Now I'm no Nudge, but I do my fair share of talking. I think for now, she knows more than enough.

"That- that's not right! You were defending yourselves; I mean we were defending ourselves. I can see it in your eyes, we didn't enjoy killing. We did it to survive right. You're not monsters at all!" She defends raising her voice to an almost Max like level. I snorted and punched Max's shoulder, lightly of course.

"Hold the banana phone, I ain't the person you should be sayin all this too," I say, and roll my eyes when she mumbles a small ouch.

"You say weird things, Iggy," She said with small smile, her eyes began to twinkle. Hmm, I don't remember telling her my name. But my face softened at her cute innocence. . . . I just thought the word cute. WHO THE HELL AM I? Must go blow up things with Gazzy later! "I think I'm beginning remember things now,"

"Like what?"

"Not much," She says sadly. "I think I can connect names to faces- I should probably go apologize to those children now,"

I jumped to my feet and stretched a hand out to Max. She smiled gratefully and rolled onto her feet. She smoothed her skirt (Trying not to stare at beautiful legs), and let me tug her along. She was hesitant, but seemed willing to follow. We were about to get out of Fang's room when she tugged my arm to a stop. Geez talk about crazy strong.

I stare at Max. She had a really strange expression on her face. I bit the inside of my cheek. I wanted to be patient with her, really I did. BUT I'M ABOUT TO LOSE IT HERE!

"Something wrong Max?" I ask. She hesitated and opened and closed her mouth several times before speaking.

"Why did F-fang kiss me?"

**Has the pairing been decided?**

**NOPE! I'm completely open to votes and ideas, and comments!**

**You know, my school starts in two days. (Sucks right?) But on the bright side for you, I'll probably write on regular basis during the school year. If not specifically for this story. But my goal is to start a creative writing club! So I need all the practice I can get helping writers. **

**If you need some advice, I'm more than willing to help. But I'm afraid I don't do editing**

**P.S. I kinda struggle writing from a guy's perspective, did I make Iggy sound like a guy? **

**~Kiki1607 out**


	12. I like sweet things

**Hey everyone, thank you for the amazing review! Here is you're next chapter!**

Chapter 12: My name is Max

Iggy PoV

Dear God, if you exist and have any mercy towards birdkids, who don't believe in you since we were born in test tubes, please kill me right this damn moment. Max blushed pink, but stared right at me, expecting an answer. Why me? Why now? Why must she look at me with those big caramel eyes? (Not chocolate Fang!)

"Wa- why do you wanna know?" I ask dejectedly. She blushed brightly, and looked away with tormented eyes.

"Be-because the first time we met, he k-kissed me. But now, he seems to hate me for some reason. I want to go talk to those kids. But that F-fang, scares me for some reason," She lowered her head and began to mumbled. Her fingers interlaced mine, and held on tighter, like I was her life line. I repeat, so damn strong! "Every time I try to remember him, my heart feels like its burning. It-it really hurts. Who is he to me?" She whispers with quiet eyes.

Don't look at her eyes, no matter what Iggy don't look. Be a man and don't look. Oh shit, she's gonna cry. Okay don't panic- too late panicking.

"Max," I mumble. I don't really have choice do I. She needs to know. I love Max, and I want her to myself. But I love Fang too. Minus the period when he acted like a douche when Lissa was around, Fang is my best friend. The things I couldn't tell the Gazzer, I had Fang for. We were both growing men, and we needed someone to talk about . . . things with.

I don't want to be the one to tell Max why she doesn't remember anything. I don't want her to hate Fang for what happened. Not that I know exactly what happened. According to Angel, it had been established that it was ENTIRELY Lissa's fault and not Fang's. Since the dude's innocent, I really don't wanna ruin his impression to Max. The last thing I'd want is for Max to hate him.

I really do care for Fang. That's why I have his back no matter what. Now that he ain't being controlled by some witch with B, I trust the dude's judgment. Even if I didn't like the way he acted around Max an hour ago. Can't say I blame him either, he only wanted Max to realize she was hurtin the flock. Course, if it were me I woulda been more subtle about it.

"I guess I could tell you a little bit about it," I mumble. I took comfort in the fact that there were warm hands wrapped around mine. I was thankful she waited for me to get my thoughts together. Had it been the old Max, she might have yelled at me for thinking, or been in shock.

"Fang's your best friend, and right wing man. You trusted him more than anyone," More than me, I added mentally. "And later, he was your boyfriend."

"My boyfriend-" She drawled, as if the words were foreign to her. She looked to me for an explanation. A tinge of curiosity and excitement in her eyes, but more noticeably was a blush, painted across her cheeks. My unoccupied fingers started twitching as my face heated up.

"Y-yeah, the dude was head over wings for you since you were seven. You also started favoring Fang around the same time. But you didn't get together till much later," I stumbled over my own words trying to explain. This is so not cool. Since when do I, Iggy the great, suck at talking? I swear if I had the chance, I'd rival Nudge at a talk off.

"What happened between us?" She slowly questioned barely above a whisper. Her face was really red now and she looked absolutely beautiful. I swallowed the jealous venom in my mouth. I'd never cause her to blush like that.

"You should probably," I pause trying to sort my own words "-ask Fang," I whisper. She heard me anyway, being a birdkid and all. Max nodded awkwardly, and seemed to drop the subject.

"So you ready to meet the others?"

"Don't you mean reunite?" She said with a cute smile.

# # # # # # # # #

Max Pov

I let Iggy drag me down stairs. The closer we reached the foot of the stairs, the more I cowered behind his large lanky back. I was so busy staring at his pale blue t-shirt I didn't even realize it when we reached the bottom of the stairs. The "Flock" didn't notice me immediately. They were sitting at a dinner table, picking at their food more than eating it. It was the same thing Iggy made me. I smile; he really is a wonderful cook.

"Hey guys, look whose here," Iggy says, announcing our presence. The kids all jump at the sound of Iggy's voice and scramble out of their seats, and rush to where the two of us stood. A small black puppy followed them. The ones called Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel stood three feet away from us. I cowered even further behind Iggy. He laughed at me.

I was afraid. I wanted to apologize to them, I really did. But they must hate me for the way I was earlier. Before I realized my body started shaking a little. Without meaning too, I looked for the one named Fang. He was nowhere in sight. The little blonde haired children, Angel and Gazzy, I believe, offered me a tiny smile. The mocha haired girl looked at me with eyes full of concern.

"H-hey, Max," Gazzy began. Iggy nudged me forward. I peeked out, and offered him a small wave, and a tiny smile. It was all I could muster. Gazzy seemed to take this as a good sign, because a wide smile stretched across his face. He placed his arms behind his golden sun blond hair, and leaned back into an easier stance.

"Can we start over Max?" A soft angelic voice asks. It was Angel; she tugged my hand as she asked. A smile began to spread across my face, and I nodded at the small seven years old. I was beginning to understand why 'I' would name her Angel.

"I-I'm Nudge. And I chose my own name around the time that I was nine. You know me for being Chatter Box Nudge, or the Nudge channel. I like sweets, and anything Iggy cooks. I like clothes. And I like fighting and debating with Iggy," Nudge said in an almost hushed tone with a smile on her pretty lips. I liked Nudge, she was very pretty, and she seemed nice when she smiled like that. I nod.

"Me next! I'm the Gasman. Iggy gave me that name cuz I was a gaseous baby. I like being called Gazzy though. But you can call me G," Gazzy said with boastful grin. Iggy laughed mockingly at Gazzy and flicked his forehead. "Ouch, thanks Iggy. Anyway, I like blowing thin- I mean I like blowing fireworks and stuff up with Iggy. I also like to eat. Oh and Angel is my real sister," He concludes with a grin. I offer another small smile. Next to speak is Angel; she walks forward with the small black dog in her arms.

"I'm Angel, and you named me Max. I like cute things, and I have a major sweet tooth. I love my flock and my brother Gazzy. I love you the most Max because you always took care of me. And I . . .and I . . .I missed you," She whispers. Tears began rolling down Angel's cheeks and her smile instantly vanished. My heart clenched at the sight of the girls tears. She dropped the small dog, and held onto Nudge, burying her head into her stomach. Nudge smiled at me apologetically and held onto Angel.

I glanced at Iggy, he looked very confused, but also sympathetic towards Angel. I wanted to ask if this was normal for her, but that didn't seem to be the case. I had to say something. I don't want to see her cry anymore. Angel, being the shortest of the bird kids, I sat before her on my knees, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She finally peeked at me with her red teary eyes. I muster a small smile.

"M-my name is Maximum Ride. I-I like sweet things too. My s-sister Bridget taught me how to p-play the p-piano, and I p-play a little guitar. I also l-like to sing. And . . . I don't remember anything beyond six months ago." I try to tell her. But then I stared at my feet in shame. I could hardly speak without stuttering; my cheeks heated up at my embarrassment. I glanced at the bird kids, they still seemed a little reluctant to get close to me. "I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I called you m-monsters . . . I didn- I'm sorry," I apologize as sincerely as I could muster the courage to look these children in the eyes. They were smiling at me. I was already forgiven.

Angel and Gazzy lunged at me. All thought my senses were hyper alert like theirs, I was taken by surprise and stumbled into the carpet. Angel and Gazzy both wrapped their arms around me. I looked to Iggy for help. He just grinned and placed a reassuring hand on my head. I smiled at the two precious children in my arms, and hug them back tightly. Their head rested by my neck, and both of their corn silk hair tickled my chin.

"T-that tickles," I giggled and eased away from them. I imagine that I look like a goof ball with bright red cheeks to them. For some reason, I wished I was as pretty as Nudge at the moment. Angel and Gazzy pulled away and laughed with me. As I stood up, I was attacked with another more subtle hug. This one was from Nudge. It was more like an embrace.

"I'm so happy you're back Max. I don't care what Fang says. You'll always be the same Maximum Ride to me," She whispered. I nodded into her hair and hugged her back. Thank you, Nudge, I thought to myself.

"Since when we're you so mature Nudge?" Iggy asks completely bewildered. Nudge pulled away and gave Iggy a playfully sour look. I giggle at the two.

"I've always been this way! You've just been too busy thinking about Ma-" Iggy cut Nudge off by placing a hand over her mouth, one arm was wrapped around her waist.

"Can it Nudge!" He exclaimed. I noticed Iggy's face was extremely red. Angel snickered at Iggy and Nudge, and Gazzy looked at him like he was crazy. I frowned, what was Nudge trying to say?

"Too busy thinking about what?" A solemn voice came from the living room. Shivers rolled down my back and looked around to match a face to the deep voice. I found the man, Fang, leaning casually against a couch, arms crossed, watching our little interaction. For some reason, I blushed brightly and hid behind Nudge. I wrapped my arms around my torso; my heart was beginning to ache again.

"F-fang? How long you been there man?" Iggy stuttered, still holding Nudge closely. Nudge struggled in Iggy's grasp, but stopped when she saw Fang. She then looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

"Thinking about what?" Fang repeated his question. I tried to peek at Fang's face. He didn't look angry. His eyes even seemed a little softer . . . he was completely different then he was an hour ago. I shuddered again, and this time shrunk back in fear.

"Oh you know . . . food a-and stuff, Ahahaha," Iggy laughed awkwardly, he looked like he was looking for a distraction. He glanced at me, and then Fang. "Hey shouldn't introduce yourself to Maxie here?" I gasped and ducked further behind Nudge at the mention of my name.

"Hello my name is Fang. I am an emotionless bag of bricks. Max will you marry me?" His deep voice sounded. This time I chock on the air I was inhaling and I blush brightly. My head started spinning in circles. Fang's voice was coming from Gazzy's mouth! Fang's eyebrows twitched angrily. He pulled Gazzy and into a strangling head lock.

"Ahh sorry, sorry, truce!" Gazzy screamed. Fang chuckled and let the boy go. He then told Iggy to let Nudge go as well. Iggy blushed when he saw that he was still holding Nudge. All the while, I kept telling my erratic heartbeat to calm down. What if he could hear me?

"So . . . who wants more cake?" Iggy suddenly announced after everyone silent. The silence was then broken of course; everyone began scrambling towards the kitchen for the last piece. Fang, Nudge, and I were the last left in the living room. Nudge wrapped her hand around mine, and with a gentle smile, urged me to the kitchen. The last time I saw Fang, he still had a cold hard look in his eyes.

Why do I ache for his forgiveness?

**I'm ****_so_**** sorry my fans and readers, but Eggy (Iggy and Ella duh) will NOT be a part of this story. Ella was only a place holder in this story, I just needed her character and Max's mom to help move this story forward. **

**But I do promise a happy ending, so please continue to read and support my story! **

**P.S I got tons of romance planned for the next chapter! Watch as both Fang and Iggy fight for our shy little Maxie's attention!**

**P.P.S Sorry for not given Total any face time, he'll be back and in FULL Diva mode next chapter ;-)**

**~kiki1607 out . . . **


	13. Lets Fly

**Sorry for the long wait! But here is the next chapter! I kinda changed the direction of this story, so I think you will notice that it's a bit more serious now than it is funny. I'll try to get the humor back into the story, but this is the general tone for the next few chapters. **

Chapter 13

Third Person

The white hallways smelled like antiseptic, chemicals, and blood. But this was no hospital where lives were heroically saved by doctors in angelic white jackets. No, this was a Scientific Laboratory of human experimentation; there was no place like hell. Lissa passed through these hallways a thousand times, and dreaded the thousands more that she'd travel through here. She wouldn't still be here if her plan had worked the first time. If it wasn't for that brat Angel, she'd happily be in some nice fluffy king sized bed with her Fang to play with all day.

She grew up in this laboratory. Even if it was hell, it was also her home. The sound of blood curling screams had been her lullabies, the smell of blood had become her fragrance, the cold metal cages had become her bed, and the shadows of the dead, her friends. This was the life she grew up with . . . and she couldn't ask for anything better. She cracked an insidious smile, and paused at the door of experiment 00097. He was her personal favorite.

She listened to the sweet melody of his bloodcurdling screams and shivered in delight. Her entire body ached for more of it. But she was disappointed when the small boy collapsed in mess of dirty blonde hair. Thanks to the damn Eraser passing out, fun time was over; it was time to face the big daddy.

The last door in the last hallway, on the top floor of the dark black building, hidden deep in boreal forests on the Washington and Canadian borderline, was the door to her father's office. His name was Edward Clarke, but his common English name was nothing to be made fun of. That man was sadistic through and through, Lissa couldn't have been more proud to have a father like him.

"You're late," his deep voice, laced thick with a British accent boomed. Lissa paused; she shut the door behind her slow, and seductively. She put one stiletto in front of the other in a graceful _catwalk_, and swayed her hips as she walked to toward the man clad in white suit, with fair wispy blonde hair, a dark red tie, and satin button down. He gestured with his cold icy blue eyes for her to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk. She ignored him, and placed her bottom on his desk, and crossed her long slender tan legs over as much as her tight skirt allowed her too.

"My apologies Father, I was simply enjoying the presence of experiment 00097," she pouted cutely as she could manage. He glared back at her.

"I have told you several times to never address me as Father, your filthy ass may have come from my genes, but I have never thought of you as a daughter you filthy feline," He replied, he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a pale folder, and slammed at shut. Lissa fell to the ground on impact, and tore what little of her skirt that existed.

"I'm hurt," She muttered sarcastically. He tossed the files in her lap, and picked up a blue coffee mug. She quickly scanned its contents and snorted in response. "You want me to bring that bitch back? Why do you need her? Couldn't I just kill her and bring back my precious Fangie?"

_Slap._ A cold sting bit at her left cheek. She spit out a tooth and drops of blood into her palm, and held her cheek with her other hand. She opened her mouth to scream at her father, but his deadly glare made even Lissa freeze in fright. He grabbed the collar of her tiny top

"You are a pathetic creature. Consider yourself lucky I haven't thought to dispose of you when you failed all of your assassination missions. Bear in mind, that unlike you, wench, I have killed over a thousand with this right hand alone," He whispered into her ear, after getting the reaction he desired, he dropped her. Lissa shivered remembering that her father was left handed

"Maximum Ride is the most successful experiments the American branch of Itex has ever created. Every organization in this world, the German, the Chinese, and even the American branch that created her, has failed to re-capture her and crack her genetic code. Now it is the Era of Great Britain. We will capture her and mass produce her DNA." He chuckled slowly, staring far into the deep forests of the Canadian-American border. It was high time he got his hands on that pigeon and returned to his home land.

"You mean you plan to turn her into a breeding factory?"

"Precisely,"

Lissa cracked an evil grin, she couldn't wait till her little pets tore into Maxie's body, and then her precious Fang would finally be ALL hers. This time none of the moon energy shit.

# # # # # # #

Max P.O.V.

I hummed to myself quietly and pulled the chiseled brush through Nudge's silky, straight Mocha colored hair. I loved the texture of it, and I simply couldn't stop playing with her hair. Nudge giggled at me.

"Oh Max, I hope you're having fun," She rolled her eyes. I blushed brightly and folded my hands in my lap.

"Sorry," I mumble quietly. Nudge shook her head and placed the brush back into my hands.

"It's okay, even my motor mouth needs a break once in awhile; besides, I like it when you play with my hair," She smiled warmly. I smiled back at her tentatively and continued long stroked down her hair. A tiny snore came from beside us, both Nudge and I quietly giggled at the sight of Angel curled up with Total in her arms, both were fast asleep.

It's been three months since I stayed with the Flock. I wasn't kidnapped anymore, I was staying of my own free will, and of course with Bridget's permission. It was a surprise for me, but she said she was happy that I was reunited with the flock. She said that she enjoyed our time together, but that my heart was still with the flock, even if I had forgotten them, she says it's best for me to stay with them. I thanked her for taking care of me and promised I'd visit soon.

I decided to stay back with the flock because I wanted to understand what Bridget meant by "My heart was always with the Flock." I've heard many stories of bits and parts of our past together, but I couldn't remember them as my own. To me, there were just stories, with me casted as a character.

Even so, during these past twelve weeks I've come to love the Flock. Angel and Nudge were like my little sisters, Gazzy was the mischievous younger brother, Iggy had become my best friend, and Fang . . . we haven't spoken more than 50 words to each other. Besides that, I had a lot of fun having dinner with everyone. Nudge and Iggy would always debate over the food, Gazzy would mimic one of their voices, and the debates would start all over again. Total too had his fair share of arguments. The first time he talked, I nearly had a heart attack.

"Nudge . . . do you . . . like him?" I mumbled, and then blushed because it slipped my mind. Nudge froze.

"You knew?"

"I might have . . . guessed," I shrugged, Nudge frowned and slumped over. "Did I say something I shouldn't have?" I panicked and rushed forward to face her. Nudge's face was covered up by her hands. I gently pried her hands away, hoping she wasn't crying. She wasn't . . . her mocha colored cheeks were faintly pink, and she had a very gentle smile on her lips. I giggled at her expression.

"Are you teasing me, Max?"

"No, you're just incredibly cute when you think about Iggy," This time I really did tease her. Her cheeks burned up, and she bit her lip unable to hide the smile stretching across her lips. But then her lips flipped in a frown.

"Even if I do have feelings for Iggy, I'm still a child in his eyes." She whispered sadly, and began twiddling with her smooth hair. "Do I seem mature to you Max? Am I really that childish?" She asked all panicky. I smile and pat her hair down.

"Nudge, sweetie, I think your childishness is your plus point. If I know Iggy, he loves a good laugh. I can't make him laugh or heat up like you do. It's okay if you're not as mature as you want to be yet. Don't worry, you'll get there before you realize it," I reassure.

"Thanks Max but . . ." Her eyes then widen as if a sudden thought came to her mind. I smirked in amusement; I could sense a ramble coming on. "What if he thinks I'm too young? I mean I'm only like two years younger than you and Iggy. I'm fourteen Max. The same age as you when you and Fang got together. So it wouldn't be weird for me to like Iggy right? Two years is NOT that big a difference right? What if he only sees me as a bratty little sister? What if he doesn't see me as a woman? Oh god Max, I think I'm gonna cry." She rambled getting all teary eyed, and voice crackling near the end of her speech.

"Aaah, what do you want me to answer first?" I ask in complete panic. I thought I was used to Nudge's rambles by now, but I could barely figure out what to respond to first.

"What if-"

"Hey Ladies!" interrupted the voice belonging to Nudge's beloved cherry blond bird boy. He peaked into the doorway; blue eyes, blonde hair, pale cheeks and all stared earnestly at the three of us. Nudge squeaked in surprise and ducked behind me. "What?" Iggy asks completely oblivious to our previous conversation. I laughed awkwardly trying to break the tension. Nudge, being the great and fabulous Nudge she is, pulled herself together quickly. She glared at Iggy, and put her two hands on her hips. Iggy gulped.

"What do you think you're doing here? Can't you see Max and I are having our girl time here?"

"You two have had plenty of girl time. If I recall correctly, you dragged Max to every Mall in the state to find matching dresses. Since when was wearing a dress sensible anyway?"

"Since you and Fang found a reason to stare at Max's curves,"

"I was not staring! Geez, why are you always so nitpicky,"

"Who are you calling nitpicky, you brainless twit? Need I remind you who won our last debate?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was you're win, you're highness. But only because you dominated the dinner table. This time, Gaz and I have a foolproof plan!"

"Mmm, Max, is something wrong?"

"Oh, hello Angel, sorry we woke you up. Iggy and Nudge were just playing."

"_We were NOT playing_" Two voices echoed from a fiery Iggy and Nudge. I frowned at them.

"But you were both smiling," I reply as if it were the most obvious thing. They blushed and looked away from each other. So they were just playing! Angel giggled at Nudge's expression, who eventually smiled back at the little blonde haired girl with a tender smile. My heart thudded in my chest. The five bird kids living under this roof, although not related by blood, were more a family then anyone could imagine. A tiny silver piece of string seemed to keep their bond together no matter how far apart, or how many fight and arguments. I wonder if that silver string would ever find its way to me.

"A-anyway, hey Maxie, wanna learn how to fly?" Iggy smiled his embarrassment away. My jaw dropped and I eagerly nodded my head. Nudge and Angel giggle at my childishness. I flush but follow after Iggy who gestured to follow him.

"Lemme get Total his snack, and we can hit the air, get it, hit the-" He paused when I stared at him dumbfound. "Never mind," I followed Iggy into the kitchen and leaned against the counter as he busily made Total a bowl of…who knows what? I always liked watching Iggy cook. He had this peaceful yet excited smile on his lips, and his hands moved with grace. Iggy was really an artist when it came to food.

Iggy and I spend a lot of time here in the kitchen together. I liked talking to him because he usually didn't bring up my past. He cared about the Maximum Ride that he was seeing here and now. He always made me laugh with silly jokes, and Iggy was defiantly the easiest person to talk too. Sometimes we would just work around the kitchen in comfortable silence, I sliced while he stirred, or I washed while he dried. Sometimes he would even teach me his secret recipes. I took that as a sign that he trusted me.

"Why are you putting his food in a dog bowl? Wouldn't that upset Total?" I gasp when I saw the beautiful, but brown mush being poured into a red dog bowl. Iggy smirked.

"This is pay back for backing Nudge at our last debate of 'I'm way more superior.' Stupid traitorous mutt deserves this!" He stuck his tongue out at the bowl of mush childishly. I giggle in response. Then Iggy shoved the mush into my arms. "Here go give this to him, and meet me out in five!"

I stare at Iggy in horror. He snickered at my expression and shoved me into the dining room. I gulped my nerves away. Total was going to go ballistic! I won't live to see tomorrow! I tiptoed my way in, shooting fleeting glances at Iggy who was hiding behind the kitchen wall snickering at my demise, Total was curled up into a ball near the leg of the dining table. Please, oh please let him be asleep. I placed the bowl in front of him, and held my breath.

Total cracked a sleepy eye open and stared at the mush. "Max," He calls, not letting me escape. "What is my snack doing on the ground?"

"Umm . . . isn't that how dogs eat?" I ask stupidly. He gave me the evil eye.

"Normal dogs maybe, but I am of an elite species of dog breeds who deserve to eat on a proper table," He deigned critically. My mind raced for a comeback. Didn't Iggy say it was in situations like this where I used to say something sassy?

"Yeah well . . . eating on the table would require using forks and knives. And dogs don't have opposable thumbs. So the ground it is for you!" I say gaining confidence near the end. Total stared, and stared, and stared, for a good long minute. A chortle of uncontrollable laughter came from the kitchen.

"Maximum Ride . . . were you attempting to say something sarcastic?"

"Umm . . . yes?"

"High paw girlfriend! It was horrible for a first attempt, but I'm proud of you for trying!" He exclaims in excitement and high fives me before I respond. I blush madly and try to laugh it off. Total than gave me a really serious face. "_Now put my food on the table and next time in a real bowl unless you want me to bite Iggy where no man should ever be bitten_," He threatened coldly. I gulped and placed his food on the table. I caught a glimpse at Iggy's horrified face. I guess Total knew my weakness was hurting the flock members.

"What exactly are you eating Total?" I ask as he jumps onto a chair and elegantly starts chewing on dainty sizes of mush.

"Why this is my wondrous super meal of course! Iggy promised he would take me to visit Akeila soon. The deal was that I fly on my own. I am now building my already chiseled bodice," He responded enthusiastically. I shook my head and quickly retreated from Total's domain.

"Well that was highly amusing; except for the part where Total threatened to destroy my man hood, of course."Iggy mused and lead me out the door. "So you ready to fly Maxie?"

But I can't respond to his brilliant eyes full of excitement. My body was frozen on the porch. The familiar sight of red mountains with deep cavernous valleys extended across every direction I could see. The red sun colored the sky in hues of pink and red, and seemed to touch the valley at its horizon. It was a scene I hadn't seen in three months. Since the day I jumped. My body began shaking, and tears formed in my eyes.

"Max?" Iggy asks. He placed his arms on my shoulders and bent down so that we were eye to eye. "Are you alright? You're shaking."

"Take me back," I whisper brokenly. "Take me back inside," I slid closer to Iggy and pressed my forehead against his chest. I couldn't do it. I can't fly. Not while I was terrified of falling again.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?" Iggy asks in panic. He firmly wrapped his arms around my body as if he wanted to hug the shivers away. His strong voice tickled at my ears and I shake my head against his chest.

"Falling . . ." I whisper. Iggy cursed under his breath and tightened his arms around me. I look up questioningly through teary eyes.

"There goes my pushing you off a cliff plan," he mumbled.

"You were going to push me off a cliff?" I exclaim in shock and reel backwards. Iggy catches me and pulls me in close again.

"Sorry, sorry, that's how I was taught to fly. I figured it would work for you too," He apologized pressing his forehead to mine. I gasp at the close contact and my cheeks instantly burn up. I never realized how dazzling Iggy's eyes were. I stumbled back again, and this time Iggy didn't hold me back.

"I- I think we should try some other time," I manage to say coherently despite my jumbled thoughts. Iggy pouted for a moment, but then again his eyes lit up.

"Oh I bet Fangles knows a way for me to teach you!" He exclaimed charging into the house. I try to go after him, but the door clicked. I panicked and tried not to stare at the endless pit below me. Not only did Iggy leave me out here alone, but he was going after Fang? I still wasn't ready to face him yet.

Whenever I was around Fang my heart always beat uncontrollably, and I always broke out in cold sweat. His cold eyes scared me, but they also intrigued me. His aloof personality intimidated me, but also drew me closer to him. His silent enigmatic smile sent shivers down my back. Whether they were good shivers or not, I do not know.

"Slow down and tell me why I'm here," That same deep voice flowed from behind the door. A moment later the door swung open to reveal Iggy pushing Fang out of the house. Fang's eyes landed on me. I hissed a breath. Those deep obsidian eyes were staring at me, the familiar sight of his shaggy black hair, and black attire with navy blue jeans instigated the sense of nostalgia in my mind. To me . . . black was such a warm color. Bridget found it astonishing that I was more drawn to cooler dark colors than the warm ones that matched my personality, or so she says.

"Please, please, please, help me teach Maxie how to fly. I promised I'd teach her, but the only method I know is by getting pushed off a cliff. You know, like you and Max did when we were seven?" Iggy rambled; I was barely keeping with his Nudge-like ramble. Well they did spend a lot of time together. "Yeah well apparently, that method won't work for Maxie here because she has a fear of falling. But I promised I'd teach her so PLEASE help me I'm begging you,"

"Iggy . . . shut up," Fang replied, and stalked back into the house. But Iggy was too persistent for that. He dragged Fang right back out.

"I'll make your meals!"

"You already do,"

"I'll do your laundry, wash, dry and fold!"

"Don't touch my clothes,"

"I won't blow anything up for a week."

"A month,"

"Deal!"

"Iggy, you don't have to-" I began to say, but Iggy shushed me and said to just trust Fang. He took a few steps back and watched us with eagle eyes, preparing to help me fly. Fang slowly sauntered over to me, a cold smirk on his lips.

"The real Max, wouldn't fear anything," He whispered quietly. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent from screaming: "I AM the real Max." That wouldn't do any good with Fang. I didn't want to ruin things just when they were getting better. But I was lying to myself if I said that, if anything, with every step Fang took closer to me, the more my hearted thudded in fright. Why was I so terrified of having Fang near me? He leaned his head against my shoulder.

"Close your eyes," I flinched. When did he get behind me? I gulped and did as he instructed. I want to fly. No matter what, I want to learn how to fly with the rest of the flock. Maybe it will help me get my memories back. "Do you trust me?" He whispered again. I shook my head, unable to lie to him.

"Hey Fang, what are you doing to her?" Iggy yelled.

"Good," Fang replied to me. And then . . . we were falling. My eyes snap open and I scream. The dark abyss of the bottomless trench drew closer to us faster and faster. No . . . I was falling, again. I felt Fang's arms wrap themselves around my waist. The sharp fall suddenly eased into a gentle glide. The wind caressed against the both of us, and held us like feathers drifting with the breeze.

"We're flying," I whisper in awe. I could see long black wings flapping on either side of us. Fang grunted in response and took us higher in the sky. The thought of falling no longer bothered me. I was too exhilarated for that. My heart pounded in my chest with a rapid excitement. As Fang rose higher in the sky, the once scary red canyon looked like nothing more than picture on post card from the sky. It was a beautiful canyon really; it looked like painting with hues of red, orange, and yellow. We flew through the evening pink sky with ease. I giggled into the wind.

"What?" He asks, interrupting my trance. I almost forgot that Fang was here with me. I blush; he was the one supporting both of us right now.

"It's so beautiful up here. Thank you for showing it to me, Fang," I smile back. It was a real genuine smile. There was so much happiness in my heart, I thought it would explode. Being up here in the orange pink sky with Fang was an indescribable feeling.

"Open your wings," Was his reply. I froze in panic. I can't fly. Not yet, I wasn't ready. My body began shaking without my realization. Fangs arms tightened around me. "Don't worry. I know you can do it," He told me. Heat instantly rushed to my cheeks. I'd never heard Fang speak in such a gentle voice. It made my heart flutter like crazy. Oh gosh I was such a mess of emotions right now.

I thanked the heavens that Nudge cut slits into all my dresses in case I needed to spread my wings. (Don't worry, I always wore shorts under the dress) I let my caramel chocolate brown wings unfurl for the first time in the nine months since I lost my memories. They were super stiff. Fang adjusted himself so that my wings never hit him.

"First let yourself glide, let the wind catch you. Remember to keep your body relaxed. The slowly flap your wings. The moving motions need to come from here," I gasp as he pressed a finger against my weak spot between my wings. I blushed very brightly now, my face was really burning. I nodded. Fang released me.

I'm gliding. I'm really gliding through the air, I thought. I laugh into the air, I felt like I was swimming through the air. I spread my arms out towards the sun, as if I could capture as much of this feeling as possible.

"You're doing great Max, now flap your wings," Iggy shouted against the wind. He pulled up beside me. I noticed that his wings were pale like his hair, but more peachy, and not so much white. He flashed me a 100 watt smile. I wondered if he felt the same exhilaration I felt. Iggy twirled in circles, and flew around me, giving a rather show performance.

"Show off," Fang muttered quietly, but I somehow managed to catch it despite the strong gusts of wind pressing against my body. He too began beautiful arcs and spins and glides. I frowned; I wanted to fly like that too. I tentatively flap my wings, trying to imitate their flying. To my surprise, my wings seemed to know exactly what to do. I giggled as I was propelled forward. I was no longer letting the wind carry me, I was swimming into it.

"Iggy, Fang, I'm flying," I exclaim brightly. Two quiet chuckles reach my ears. I giggle, and did a fast nose dive and then sprung back up just as abruptly, and twirled in the air. I'm flying. I'm actually flying. My body knew exactly what to do!

"Now who's a show off," Iggy tisked. But his eyes seemed to be in awe, he looked like he had his breath taken away, and knocked off his feet. Fang too had a similar, but much more subtle look in his eyes. I wonder why. I flew closer to Fang and Iggy so that I was now between the two of them. We flew in wide arcs and crisscrossing patterns. But the sun was setting and we couldn't fly forever. Before I realized it we were back at the house. Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, and Total stood on the porch wildly waving their arms at us.

"Down and under in five," Fang announced, Iggy nodded in response.

"What does that mean?"

"It means land in five seconds,"

"But I don't how!"

"WHAT?" Iggy shouted. I scream; I was going to crash into Angel and Nudge. Iggy dove forward, and skittered to stop on the porch. He stood protectively in front of Angel and Nudge, and I dived into his arms.

I landed on top of Iggy. I laid there for a good minute before I came to my senses. Iggy and I sat up in a mess of wings and feathers. Neither of us was hurt. The flock all laughed at my clumsy landing, and Iggy's attempt to catch me. I blushed and thanked Iggy.

# # # # # #

Fang Pov

I struggled to hide a chuckle at Max's awful landing. For someone so graceful in the sky, she was a klutz on land. Max stumbled off of Iggy blushing brightly, apologizing and thanking him at the same time. Without realizing, I was smiling at Max.

I saw it in her earlier when we were flying. Even if it was only for a moment, I saw of bit of the old Max. Only Max could look that beautiful flying in the sky. Even though this new Max was different than my Max, she was also the same, at the same time.

My Max would awkwardly blush, and grudgingly thank others. This one blushes, stutters, and then smiles. My Max would chuck a blanket at me if I slept on the roof, this one would gently spread it over me. My Max would always comfort the Flock in motherly way. This Max . . . was not so different.

But then again, my Max couldn't cook, sing, or play music. My Max didn't wear dresses (No matter how amazing she looked in them). My Max didn't stutter or shy away from me. My Max wasn't intimidated by me. My Max trusted me.

It really wasn't so bad after all. Max's changes weren't too bad. I even liked some of her new traits. Maybe, just maybe this Max could be my Max again. If she stopped getting scared around me. Thought the thought of scaring Max nearly made me crack up. It was hilarious really.

"Fang," Her sweet voice called, breaking my thoughts. I spared her a glance. Her face was still bright red from her landing on Iggy. And to my surprise, Iggy was bright red as well. Definitely needed to question that later. "Thank you, for teaching my how to fly," She whispered with a tiny smile. I blinked in shock. It was the first time Max had smiled at me since we brought her back.

"You already said that,"

"Yes I know, but I really am grateful . . . and umm, I like talking to you, Fang," She smiled, blushed, and then ran off with Angel and Nudge, leaving me stunned. I thought she was afraid of me. Oh crap, rapid heartbeat, did I actually just feel attracted to Max again? Oh man, I'm so whipped.

"Hey Fangles, don't just stand there, let's go eat man." Iggy shouted at me, propping the door impatiently. I narrowed my eyes.

"We need to talk Iggy." I reply. Iggy raised an eyebrow, but quietly shut the door and expectantly waited for me to begin talking.

"What's the deal with you and Max," I ask bluntly. Iggy's jaw dropped and his cheeks flushed pink.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Don't play Ig, I just want to know what your deal is," I say through gritted teeth. Why was I so irritated all of a sudden? Iggy seemed to pick up on my mood and smirked tauntingly.

"Jealous Fangles? You can't stand to see me and Max getting all chummy huh? You can't deny that she's attracted to me too," Iggy stated smugly. The back of my neck burned.

"I never implied that,"

"You sure did Fangles, and guess what? I'm attracted to her too, and this time, Max will be mine," He declared, his face settled into a firm gaze. When I didn't respond to Iggy, he patted his faded jeans, and walked back into the house, slamming the door as he went.

I stood on the front porch of the Flock's home and safe haven. My legs were like glued to the ground. They wouldn't move. I took a deep breath, and quickly sorted through my thoughts.

Number one: I was in love with Max . . . again.

Number two: Iggy was in love with Max too, I would have to fight for her

Number three: Max could choose either of us this time.

**Hehe, I hope that wasn't too serious. I hope you guys are prepared for an epic ending. And if this story gets somewhere around three hundred reviews, I WILL write a sequel to it :) **

**Also, I think the rest of the chapters will be about this length. **

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**~kiki1607 out . . . **


	14. Part 1: Confessions

**Sorry for the long wait, I had to split this chapter into two because there were some drastically different things going on in them.**

**Thank you guys so much for sticking to my story, I will definitly finish it for you!**

Chapter 14: Confessions

"Max . . ." I whispered, my voice coming out all deep and husky. The tone only made me slightly worry. Max shivered in my arms. I pressed against her closer, and leaned my head against her shoulder as I whispered in her ear. She tensed, and held her breath, waiting for me to continue. "I love you,"

Her knife slipped out of her hands, and clattered onto the counter. Max's fist clenched in tight fists. I could almost feel how hard her heart was beating from the pulse by her neck. My arms, which were at top of hers, slowly wrapped themselves around her small waist. Max hung her head.

"Please be my girlfriend," I continued, and slowly proceeded to kiss her cheek. I saw her eyes stretch wide like saucers at the contact and then—tears rolled down her cheek. I lurched back in shock. "W-wait, don't cry! I thought telling you that make you happy," I stammered, I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me.

Max wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I-it's not that, I am happy." She paused to wipe more tears. I bit my lip, a foreboding feeling probed at my senses. Man, I knew I should have been more subtle, more Sauvé, instead I tried to be like Fang. This is what I get. "You pinned me against the onions," She sniffled.

"Huh?" My jaw dropped. I leaned over her shoulder and blushed crimson red. Holy shift, talk about bad timing. When I approached Max, I couldn't bring myself to face her as I confessed, so I pinned her against the kitchen counter. I had no FNICKING idea she was chopping onions! White onions no less, man I'm an idiot. "Umm . . . well this is awkward" I chuckled nervously.

Max giggled, but then her eyes dropped sadly. My heart twisted in my chest in painful way I never experienced before. I almost wanted to check and see if I had an arrow piercing my chest or something. Obviously there was nothing there. I stare at her serene blushing face. It looked _very_ troubled. My heart began to sink; I was going to get rejected.

"Iggy," Max whispered, I snapped out of my daze. "I love you too," She said shyly. I froze, did my ears really hear what I think they just heard. I should be dancing right now right? So why the hell am I standing still like an idiot? Oh yeah, because it looked like Max had more to say. "But I'm not sure if it's the same way you love me. Could you please give me some time?"

And cue sinking of heart. The nervous grin that was previously plastered on my face began to sink. No, I have to play nonchalant, otherwise Max would worry that she hurt me, and agree to be my girlfriend out of guilt. Knowing her, the possibility was strong. I grinned as brightly as I could manage.

"Yeah that's cool, I bet it's a lot to take in anyway," I laughed, but my voice came out all weird. Did she notice? Unfortunately yes. Max leaned forward for a hug. I awkwardly hugged her back, but the moment she eased in, I felt myself easing to her hug. The girl I loved was in my arms at the moment. I couldn't be any happier. Well it's not like she rejected me. I still have a chance. I still have time to make her fall in love with me.

"Can we go back to normal until I let you know?" She asks shyly, still in my arms. I nod, and bury my head into her soft corn silk hair.

"I wouldn't want it any other way,"

"Umm . . . Iggy, I think dinner is burning!"

We ran for the stove and shut it off before the stew could boil over. I looked at Max sighing in relief, our eyes met. We both laughed. It was a bitter sweet moment, my heart hurt but I was gonna live. Besides there was no way possible Max would choosing a brooding guy like Fang.

_Crash!_ Max jumped in freight. "What was that?" She asks. Max and I ran toward the dining room. The remains of a shattered glass plate were scattered around our dining room, Nudge stood in the center, her back facing us.

"Nudge!" Max gasped and ran to her side. She grabbed Nudge's hand's which were aimlessly picking up the glass. They're were tiny gashes and cuts on her hand; blood dripped to the hardwood. Max shook the glass out of her hand, and held Nudge's cheek. "Are you alright? Is your hand in pain?" Max made gestures like she was wiping tears away. I stared at the two, completely baffled. Then reality kicked me in the ass, and I realized. . . NUDGE WAS BLEEDING! I spun on my heals and ran for the first aid kit.

"Band aids, gotta get band aids! Where the _fnick_ is the first aid kit!" I shouted at no one in particular. I shoveled through the wooden cabinets spilling pill bottles and other mundane things that _no one_ ever uses! Why do we have so many pills? Oh yeah, to sedate Total from Diva tantrums. Fnick, that not the point here!

"Iggy," A voice breathed down my neck. I jumped a foot in the air.

"Holy shift, Fang, what'dya want!" I shouted nervously. Fang gave me an incredulous look, which is a lot coming from the emotionless brick wall. Putting that aside, is it just me or have I been easier to sneak up on since I got my sight back?

"Calm down, Nudge's had worse," Fang says calmly. I was fuming at Fang for interrupting my panic, and then I realized how stupid I was acting. Compared to the black eyes, broken ribs, broken bones, eternal starvation, a tiny cut was nothing. What was I freaking out about? Why was I freaking out?

"Right, right, shouldn't you be moping in some corner; what are you doing here anyway?"

"Restocking supplies, your job," Fang looked at me pointedly. I chuckled bashfully. Whoops, I was gonna get punished for that later.

"Hehe, come on Fang, cover for a man will ya?" I asked too hopefully. Fang looked slightly exasperated but seemed to let it sly.

"Help Nudge. I'll ask Max," Fang compromised. I was so happy I almost jumped on his back, almost. "Don't forget your promise to Total,"

"My, my Fangles, aren't you talkative today?"

Fang snorted, "Someone needs their hand held,"

"I do not!" I huffed indignantly. Fang slightly glared and pointed at Nudge who was still bleeding while we were arguing. I looked at him apologetically, but the friken bastard already disappeared. I swear to God, Fang is like a slender man wannabe. But pushing those thoughts aside, I finally found the first aid kit and ran to Nudge's side.

"Max, lemme see it," I ask and kneel down beside the two of them. To my bad luck, I seemed to interrupt something. Nudge was staring Max with cold dark eyes, and Max looked down cast. The air was so tense around the two of them, I felt like I cut it with a knife. "Umm . . . sorry," I say, for some reason it seemed like the right thing to say.

The two snapped out of their revere. Max scrambled away, her lips trembling as she left. What happened to her? I wanted to ask Nudge, but her glare was now aimed towards me. I gulped.

"I d-don't suppose you're looking at me like t-that cuz of your hand?" I stuttered. She grunted and ripped the first aid out of my hands. With one hand she tried to open it. "Nudge, don't be stubborn. Lemme get this for you," I gently pried her hands away. She struggled for a moment, and gave in. Her face was completely hidden by her hair, and her cast down. What the fnick just happened?

"Are you okay?" I ask, dabbing the tiny cuts on her hand.

"I'm fine, just . . ." Nudge says in voice that I never heard her use before. I waited for her to say more, because with Nudge, you can always expect she had more to say. I disinfected her cut, and placed a band aid over it. I wonder why I freaked out earlier, this was nothing compared to what I used to treat the flock for. "confused," she finally whispered.

"Of what?" I ask half heartedly, trying to neatly put the band aids away. Fang was already peeved (He can deny it, but I know him better than that) for being irresponsible enough to forget to restock supplies. Now he and Max were together . . . alone. I gulped suddenly feeling very worried.

"Iggy, are you even listening?" Nudge whispered. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her apologetically. "You're thinking about Max, aren't you?"

"Wa? What makes you say that?"

"Because you always get this far away look in your eyes when you think about Max. I-I don't understand Iggy," She muttered, her voice steadily rising. "What is it about Max? It's like; all of a sudden she's on this high pedestal. Like she's some kinda goddess. Don't get me wrong, I love Max. And I know you love her. But why would you put her on such a high pedestal? If you really loved Max, she would be your equal. You would love her faults, talents, and all; yet you look at Max with reverence. How can you expect anyone to believe you love her?" She fumed. I glared at Nudge. That was a low blow.

"Who are you to judge my feelings? Why do you care about my feelings towards Max?" I snapped somewhat viciously at her. Nudge glared, and I glared back evenly, until I saw her tears. She cried, and I was responsible for it.

"_Because I love you stupid_" She shouted, angry tears rolling down her darkened cheeks. I lost my footing and stumbled onto the floor, butt first. Nudge buried her head behind her hands and sobbed as quietly as she could. Nudge . . . loves . . . ME?!

"But Nudge . . ." I whispered trying to find the right words. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know . . . the time just never seemed right," She says, and then her eyes flash as if she has an idea. I know that face anywhere. Sometimes, I feel like I can read Nudge too easily. Nudge reached for my hand and held it tightly. My faced turned into a tomato, guess I can't read her _that_ well, or I could've seen that coming. "Please tell me Iggy. What do you feel about me?" She stared with wide chocolate-hazelnut colored eyes that seemed to twinkle with tears. Her eyes . . . I never noticed, but I felt like I could see the whole world and the whole wide blue sky in the them. I pulled my hand back without thinking.

"W-what I feel? Y-your like a sister to me, yeah," I say trying to convince myself. I hid my trembling mouth behind my hands. I didn't dare look at Nudge's broken eyes.

"Max was like a sister to you too, so I don't see what the problem is," She replied with a slight stubborn, Nudge-like determination. "If you can change the way you look at Max, you can change the way you look at me."

"Nudge . . . do you want me to love you back?" I ask almost uncertain of what she was getting at.

"OF COURSE I DO STUPID!" She shouted throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. "What kinda girl would tell the guy she loves, that she loves him without wanting him to love her back! Why would I bother to try convincing you otherwise if I wanted you to love me instead of Max!"

"Okay, okay, no need to shout at me!" I hmphed; not knowing what else to say. Nudge stared with angry, but determined eyes. My will was starting to break under her eyes.

"Nudge . . . your only fourteen," I tell her gently.

"So were Max and Fang when they started dating, or have you forgotten that Iggy? Did you really forget how Max and Fang need each other like they need air to breathe?"

"_I know! Trust me I do_." I nearly shouted at her. Nudge flinched backwards. I sighed and took a deep breath. I needed to explain this to Nudge right now, and carefully. "I love her too, Nudge. I love Max with all my heart. I've been _in_ love with her since we were seven. Just before Max began to favor Fang, the three of us were inseparable.

"And you know what? At one point, I did give up on loving her. Because of that she choose Fang. I keep thinking to myself- maybe if I didn't give up on her all those years ago- it would have been me she depended on, and me that she loved back.

"I feel like fate gave me a second chance at winning Max back when we found her in that alley. And when she opened up to me, I began to hope and let myself believe it was okay to love her again. And you know what Nudge? I won't lose her Fang like I did when we were seven." I finished almost vehemently. Nudge looked taken aback. If eyes were the windows to the soul, then I watching Nudge's break into pieces.

I said all I had to say, I stood up, dusted my jeans, and began to walk away. Her arms snatched mine before I could leave. A quiet sob escaped her lips and me freeze where I stood. I waited for her to say something. Just I knew she always would.

"Do . . . do you feel anything for me . . . at all Iggy?" She whispered. I shut my eyes tightly, and yanked my hand out of her grasp. I left her there, collapsed on the dining room floor. Somewhere, deep in my heart, I felt like I was making a mistake. Every nerve in my body was screaming at me to go back. But my head was too stubborn, and my pride was too strong. I found Total sleeping by the door, patiently waiting for me to take him to his sweetheart. Lucky Mutt had a girl/dog to call his sweetheart.

My heart belonged to Max, and only Max. Right?

**What do you think? What do you think?**

**Nudge finally reveals her feelings for Iggy, Iggy is set on Max. Whats gonna happen next?**


	15. Part 2: Wyverns

**Hello everybody! I can't believe it's been a month since I updated! I thought I had this chapter written really fast . . . I was supposed to put this up last week but . . . well you know how it is before Christmas break. I had five tests, and three 100 question reviews due before this Friday. It was a stressful week. **

**Okay enough about me, so this chapter turned a bit more angsty than I planned, and if you haven't realized it yet, I am NOT a fan of angst stories. There are just too many of them in this world. So we have a lot of plot development in this chapter. **

**Up until now, I kinda branched off the cannon Maximum Ride, and this turned into an AU story, but now we're going back to the Cannon style of MR, so expect a lot of action, suspense, and of course, romance. **

Chapter 14 part 2: Wyverns?

Max POV

Flying out in wide blue cloudless sky did not take my mind off of Iggy or Nudge. Nudge's never looked so broken; I knew about her feelings for Iggy. I now know about Iggy's feelings for me. But where did that leave my feelings? Iggy wouldn't accept if I turned him down because of Nudge, nor would Nudge. If I turned him down it would have to be because of my own feelings.

These thoughts circled my head the entire time Fang and I flew in silence. Perhaps it even lasted while we began shopping. My mind was so wrapped in these thoughts that . . . well imagine my surprise when my finger came in contact with Fang's. We were both reaching for the same drink. I gasped and retracted my hand.

"Sorry," I whispered out of habit. Fang nodded in acknowledgement but turned his back to me. I tried to will myself to run after him, but my body froze. Tingling, electrifying sensations tickled my skin where it had connected with Fang.

A fragment of memory seemed to come back to me. I was walking hand in hand with Fang. We were on beach, somewhere beautiful and exotic. The air smelled like pomegranates and a sweet floral blend. There was a cone of ice cream in my hands. Fang was smiling, I was smiling. It was a scene too beautiful to look away from. Fang leaned close to me; his lips teasingly hovered above mine.

"Max," The real Fang called, ripping the memory away from me. He was waiting for me at the counter, food already loaded for the cashier to ring up. I blushed, mumbled an apology and quickly gave her my Max Ride card, another artifact from a story I recently heard. I glanced at Fang, his expression was indifferent, and his eyes never met mine. We quickly loaded up our goods, and left the store.

Being alone with Fang was terrifying at first, despite how much our friendship had grown since I first arrived here. But there was something _unnatural _about our friendship. I didn't understand it, so I kept my distance from him, and he didn't try to approach me. But at the same time, I was drawn towards Fang. Without realizing it, we walked closer to each other while walking towards our clearing in the forest.

Fang shook his feathers out, and readied himself for a takeoff. "Wait! I nearly yelped and grabbed his arms. Fang paused, I took the opportunity to calm my frazzled heart and ignore my burning cheeks. "C-could we please stay here a little longer?"

"Why?" He asked so bluntly, I tried to stammer out an excuse, by for some reason my words never seemed to have any coherence around Fang. But he didn't rush me. He grabbed the grocery bags out of my arms and hid all the goods behind a tree. "Well?" He asked when he finished.

"I . . . just wanted some fresh air. Could we," I paused and wondered if it was okay to ask this of him. But my desperation was starting to get to me. I could NOT go back and face Iggy yet. "go for a walk?"

Fang shrugged and he spun around and began walking towards the street we just came through. He paused and shot me a look that seemed to say "Are you coming or not?" I smiled and ran up to him. We walked in silence. It wasn't a bad silence. Fang's presence was surprisingly very calming. I almost couldn't believe I had been afraid of him. What was I afraid about?

"Umm . . . Fang? Have we, I mean the flock and I, ever gone to Hawaii?" I ask, Fang's steps faltered a moment but he didn't stop walking.

"Yeah," a one word response. I grinned; I was getting somewhere at least. I began walking backwards so I could see Fang as we talked. He seemed amused by my actions but said nothing of it.

"Could we, you know, you and I have ever been on a beach of some sort," His reaction was easily noticeable this time. "maybe on a walk. Something like what we're doing right now?" I ask.

"Maybe ," He replied cautiously. But his dark eyes seemed to say otherwise. I could barely keep the excitement off my face.

"Were we . . . on a date?" I bit my lip, and felt the blood rush into my cheeks. My heart thumped against my chest in soft excitement. But I didn't dare look at his face. I stopped walking and waited for a response. I didn't hear one. I peeked through one eye to see Fang scrutinizing my face. I frowned.

"No," he lied, and almost too obviously too. My heart seemed to lurch in my chest, but I followed Fang anyway. He walked faster this time, more brisk, and nervous in his stance. But I felt hurt, almost betrayed. Why did he lie to me? Something in my mind seemed to snap, my shyness repelled and an inner strength I never knew I had came out.

"Why are lying?" I ask boldly, as if I needed to know. The words Fang said to me know, felt like they would impact our future forever. I didn't understand it. Maybe it was just my brain going on overdrive from this morning with Iggy to standing here with Fang, or maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, the sense of foreboding constantly nagged my conscious.

"I'm not lying,"

"Yes you are!"

"How would _you _know?" Fang sneered harshly, seeming to lose his patience. I gasped, and held back a sob. But my eyes betrayed me. Tears rolled down my face before I could process Fang's words. As much as I wish I didn't understand him. I did. _You're not Max, how would you know?_ He asked me.

Fang's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. Color rushed up to his fair skinned face. "Max, I-"

"Iggy said he loved me," I interrupted. "He asked me to be his girlfriend." I say in quiet whisper. This time Fang's eyes betrayed his emotionless, stoic face. At least that was how the flock would describe it. Fang was anything but emotionless. The twitch of an eyebrow, the darkening or shimmering of his eyes, the quirk in his lips, the raising of his cheekbones; those simple movements were all I needed to read Fang's expressions. He was hurt, hurt badly by my words.

"I see . . . Iggy's a good guy," Fang responded with difficulty. His voice was as broken. He knew he wasn't deceiving me.

"You think I should be with Iggy?" I asked prompting him. Please say the words I need to hear Fang, please, I pleaded in my mind. I scanned his face, looking for any sign that he would tell me the truth. He chose to lie again.

"If he makes you happy," He whispers, his face inches away from mine. My eye fluttered, with unshed tears, and bile rose to my throat. With great difficulty I forced myself to swallow. What was I expecting from Fang? What did I want from him, what do I want him to say?

No, my heart knew I was waiting for something. I was waiting for those words to come from his lips. "Happy? How can I be happy with Iggy . . . when I can't even understand my feelings for him?" I said half sobbing and half calmly. Fang didn't interrupt; he let my finish speaking my mind.

"Every time I start think that maybe I should love Iggy back, my heart twists and turns, and retches and revolts. Why? Because apparently heart belonged to someone else first!" I sobbed, my face heating up in shame.

Since the day the Flock had "kidnapped" me, I was having dreams. At first they were unclear. I could only make out the outline of man's body. But his face didn't matter to me because I knew I loved that man with all my heart. Each time I had that dream, his face became a little clearer. I loved him, but I couldn't remember who he was.

"Tell me Fang . . . why did I willingly choose to give up my memories?" I whispered once I got control of myself. My mind began to compare the silhouette to that of Fang. They were a perfect match. Fang looked at me with tormented eyes.

"Just . . . leave it in the past, Max," His expression tightening in manner that didn't reflect his eyes. More tears rolled down my face, and I closed my eyes, unable to take anymore. That's when I felt Fang's fingers brush the tears off my face. Tiny tingles danced across my cheeks. A short memory of Fang letting me cry on his shoulder, comforting me, came to my mind.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled. Somehow, I had the feeling that he wasn't apologizing for just making me cry, he was apologizing for so much more. But for what I probably wouldn't know. I took a step back, whipped my tears with the back of my hands, and pinched my cheeks into a smile.

"S-sorry, I don't know what came over me," I say trying to smile, and clear the sob in my throat. What was I thinking? "I'm okay now," He nodded unconvinced, and guiltily avoided my gaze. I let out of huff of air I didn't know I was holding. I think I just ruined my precarious relationship with Fang. That thought left a foul taste in my mouth.

We walked and walked, side by side, always an adequate distance between the two of us. Somehow it felt as though it didn't belong there, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead I stared at the city before me. It was different than New York, the air was drier and crispier here. The boulevard where we were walking was rather empty except for a few families walking with their children, ice cream cones in hand. There were also tanned couples (in revealing clothes that I'd never wear if my life depended on it), skating hand in hand. The evening orange sun was setting on us. Soon we would have to head back. No sooner, had I thought that and Fang abruptly spun around and began walking briskly in the direction we came from.

"Is something wrong?" I ask worried by his sudden change. Fang shook his head.

"Just a bad feeling, lets head back," He replied rather quietly. I tensed but followed after him. I soon felt Fang's reason for his tension. Something or someone was watching us. The intense prickling sensation on my neck and my gut deep instincts seemed to tell me to run. Every so often one of us would turn around and take a sly glance; there wasn't anyone there, but a garbage bin that was knocked down, food that had been spilled from a family, people on the ground who looked like they'd been run over or a parting crowd. It was all very suspicious.

"Fang," I whisper in a shaken voice, he glances back and catches the same flash of red that I managed to catch. His eyes seem to widen in recognition, but before I could ask he hastily grabs my arm and tugs me away from civilization. Even after fifteen minutes of walking under the cover of the evergreen forests. "Fang, what is it?" I ask almost breathlessly. I was hardly winded, just scared.

He doesn't respond. He can't. Because suddenly my body is pulled away, my feet kick under me. Something long and wiry wraps itself around my waist and yanked my body. I went flying, and crashed into a long ebony white tree.

"Max!" Fang shouts in voice full of dread and hopelessness. My vision starts swimming, but thankfully the crash didn't break skin. I wasn't bleeding. I could make out the shape of Fang running towards me when a scaly mass tackles him into the ground. Its claws tore at his torso horrendously. I want to scream or shout at Fang to run. But my mind is literally drifting between my consciousnesses. I watch the fight in my reduced dumb state.

Fang manages to push the scaly mass off him, his shirt is shredded and angry red lines covered his torso, but the creature hadn't broken skin yet. The scaley mass circles around Fang like a tigress hunting her prey. A long scaly tail lashed at the ground, angrily riling up leaves and dirt in its trail. Its screech was inhumane, definitely not a creature of this world.

I pick myself off the ground, trembling at the green grey creature. Fang's eyes only glance at me once, and he motions for me to stay where I am. The creature sprang in a vicious attack at Fang once more. Fang used the back of his arm to smash the beast aside. It tumbled into the ground but quickly sprung up and jumped on Fang with all fours. They both fell onto the ground.

Fang quickly kicked the beast and sent it flying backwards. The creature spreads out _its wings_ to catch its fall and shot back at Fang. It flew around him like and eagle circling his dinner, leaving large scratches on Fang with its sharp claws.

"Fang!" I shouted. I began running towards him.

"No!" He yelled back. I didn't and wouldn't listen. My feet sped up underneath me and I was running at an inhumane pace. A tiny memory tingled the back of my brain, of time when I flew at this hypersonic speed. Just as the creature went for the killing blow, I jumped at Fang. I threw my arms around his body and we both went tumbling out of that _things_ path.

I lay breathlessly, the wind knocked out of me, on top of Fang. His arm tightens around my waist, another covers my mouth to cloak my haggard breathing. He pushed his legs so that we were backed behind a tree. The creature screeched behind us. It roared and shouted at random trees. It spun in circles and screamed into the sky again. That's when I realized . . . it was blind. The creature moved fast, but I caught my first real glimpse at it. It looked like a reptile and dare I say . . . a dragon.

"Wyvern," Fang whispered hastily. I looked at him with questioning eyes. He removed his hands from over my mouth, but held me close. A strange blanket of warmness covered me. "Stay still, the Wyvern is blind, but has a sharp sense of smell. I'm trying to mask our presence,"

"How?" I can't help but ask. A smile skittered over his lips, and then quickly disappeared.

"Apparently we've mutated again. You ran with hyper speed. I can completely mask our presence," He whispered. I put the pieces together; Nudge did tell me once that Fang had the ability to turn invisible. "Abandon the food. We have to get out of here."

"But Fang, that thing can fly!" I cried and clutched him closer. Fang smirked almost cockily and pried my tanned fingers away. His eyes showed a thrill of excitement, like some part of him was aching for a good fight. And for whatever _incomprehensible reasons_ I actually understood that feeling. In fact, deep in my mind there was a burning desire for action, thrill, _adrenaline_, but my more rational side argued that I didn't have a clue how to fight!

"Don't worry Max, I learned to fight from the best," He said factitiously, and with playful eyes. If we hadn't been in this horrendous predicament of being chased by some mythical creature that shouldn't exist, I might have giggled. Instead I was exasperated. My instincts told me that _Wyvern_ was dangerous and not to leave Fang alone.

Fang sprung away leaving me hidden behind the trees. This time he sprung at the Wyvern. He jumped on its back and wrangled its neck. The Wyvern easily bucked him off and sent him flying into the trees. I bit my lip and began to wonder if that confidence and smugness had been all a show. Fang seemed disoriented standing up, but he shook it off quickly as the Wyvern charged again. Only it was charging . . . at me?

I screamed and tried to run from it, but my foot caught in root and fell face first to my own doom.

"_Stay away from Max!"_ I heard murderous scream that sounded an awful lot like Fang's. It reminded me of the time that he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at how badly I hurt the Flock members. I hoped to never hear it again. When I open my eyes, I see the Fang managed to get the Wyvern away from me. His eyes had this wild look in them. They weren't playful or adventurous anymore, just pure rage. In his fury Fang was losing sight of the Wyvern.

"Fang!" I shouted. His eyes flashed over to me, taking the sight of me in before once more looking away in murderous huff.

"Where are you? Come back and fight me!" Fang shouted uncharacteristically. I whimpered in fright of this new Fang. It wasn't really him. The rustling of leaves caught my attention. In my peripheral vision I caught sight of the beast bucking its claws into the dirt getting ready to charge. My heart dropped in my chest and I began running without thinking.

_Faster, faster, faster, _I chanted in my mind. It worked, the hyper speed, as Fang called it, kicked into my legs. I was going to beat the Wyvern. I grabbed Fang without halting my run, extended my wings, and push up as hard as I could. The two of us shot into the sky with an astonishing acceleration. My mind was working on hyper drive to keep up with my new found speed. As soon as we were close enough to touch the clouds, I slowed down rapidly.

I huffed breathlessly, and struggled to hold onto Fang tightly. By Gods, was he heavy! The blood that rushed to my face in flight slowly faded away until I was my natural tan color. My rapid heartbeat seemed to quiet down.

"Ahh . . . I feel sick," Fang softly groaned, all rage finally dying out of him. I glared at the boy in my arms for stupidly letting his anger get the better of him.

"That was the stupidest thing I have ever seen! What if the flock had seen your recklessness?" I screamed into the wind, even though Fang was right under me. Heavy as he was, it wasn't impossible to carry him, must be a mutation thing.

"Trust me, they've seen you do worse," He grumbled, his voice thick with embarrassment. My anger seemed to flare inside me; I snorted and let Fang go.

"Hey!" He shouted and quickly opened his wings. His left charcoal colored wing seemed to flap almost awkwardly. He was hurt. I sighed and let my anger drain away.

"You could've gotten hurt." I whispered, still very upset with his actions.

"You were defenseless," He reasoned with a casual shrug. I gaze at Fang, taking his appearance since the fight. His clothes were torn and cut up, but somehow still managed to cover his body. There were small red lines of skin raised from where the creature tore at him (Fang was lucky to duck so quickly, or its claws definitely could have torn into him), the worst being a long cut across his cheek. My heart gave out for him.

It wasn't long before the two of us gracefully landed on the porch of our cozy home. My flying had improved drastically, and well, it seemed my body remembered more than my brain. No complaints or anything.

"Stay here!" I commanded Fang pressing my palms against his chest. Fang put his hands up and shrugged, he swung his legs off the porch staring off into the horizon. He was taunting me, and I knew it, there was a smug smirk on Fang's face. I smiled and ran inside to grab the first aid.

Angel and Gazzy were too absorbed in watching TV to see me sneak in and out. I noticed, with a cringe, that Nudge and Iggy were both nowhere in sight. I guiltily thanked God; I couldn't deal with Iggy just yet. Fang needed to be taken care of and I needed answers that only he had.

"Fang," I say, alerting my approach. He was comfortably sprawled back, with his arms cushioning his head and his eyes closed. I sighed and pulled out the disinfectant. I pulled Fang's torn shirt back to assess the damage. I settled on dabbing the angry raised red scratches. "Were those things really Wyverns?"

"No," Fang snorted, I could almost hear him roll his eyes. "They're definitely experiments. The name fits."

"Oh . . . why did they attack us? I thought the flock wasn't being pursued anymore."

"We're the most successful experiments to walk this planet Max. Our lives will never be safe." He answered almost solemnly. I wanted to protest, but today was just an example of this undeniable truth. "But we'll survive if we're together," He added as an afterthought. I laughed light heartedly.

"I guess I'm forgiven," Fang whispered with a cocky smile. My eyes narrowed at him.

"You're lucky Fang, not everyone is as magnanimous as I am," I teased. Fang's eye brows rose.

"That's a big word Max, you sure you know what it means?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't" I snapped, feeling a strange pleasure in my chest. This felt right. Talking to Fang like this felt so natural, it was like breathing in air. Fang chuckled.

"Total's right. Your sarcasms improved," He mocked. I gasped and lightly punched his arm without thinking. The action surprised me, even if my face didn't show it, but again, it just felt so natural. Fang lies back down, and watches me work on his chest. I then moved onto the cut on his face.

"This is gonna hurt," I warned and dabbed the cloth on his cheek. Fang didn't flinch, instead his hand reached for my neck, and his long fingers wrapped themselves around it. I gasped when Fang pulled me down into a sweet soft kiss. His warm lips moved in synch with mine, and left sizzling aftershock in its wake. He pulled away just as abruptly as he pulled me into the kiss. I stared at him wide-eyed, unable to move.

"I want you to be mine again, Max."

**Well I hoped you liked this chapter, it was fun and pretty easy to write.**

**Wyverns are mythical creatures that bare resemblance to dragons. The wyvern tidbit is in honor of my current obsession BBC's Merlin! I love it! For you Merlin fans, I'm sure you see the places where incorporated a bit :P**

**So I realized that Gazzy and Angel haven't been getting much screen time (page time) lately. Don't worry, I'll bring them back. **

**Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up faster. **

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

**Comment and Vote!**

**~kiki1607 out . . . .**


	16. The Coming of Nudge

**Okay quick establishment of the time line of this story. It started 6 months after book 5, they are already sixteen, six more months go by when Max disappears, and three months since she's been back with them. So at this point the flock is _almost_ two years older than they were in book 5. **

**So besides a _very_ nasty comment, I had a very good week.**

**This chapter is my birthday gift to you guys! Thanks for being so amazingly supportive, and patient with my horrid slow updating. I'll make up for it by providing awesome chapters. **

Chapter 15 Part 1: The Coming of Nudge

Fang POV

"Come on Fang SPILL!" Gazzy shouted in my ear. I rolled my eyes at the kid, and focused on the task in front of me, updating my blog. It was my first time updating in a year but that mostly due to the fact that nothing exciting has happened to us in the past year. Last time I check I had a lot of pissy comments about my separation with Max. Lots and lots of hate mail man, I'm not gonna deny it, it hurt to be hated by strangers.

Okay that was only partially a lie, I updated once in between after we discovered Max wiped her memories. My brain was rejecting the memory of the update because this time I actually got a lot of death threats. Apparently the whole world was reading my blog for Max and Fang action and not "Bird kids mission to save the World."

"Fang I swear I'll fart in your face if you don't tell me!" Gazzy threatened. I winced and considered giving in. Gazzy's farts were pretty damn lethal, especially now that he can light them on fire . . . ugh, I mentally shuddered at the memory.

"Don't even think about it Gaz. I'll just look into Fang's mind," Angel taunted me. I narrowed my eyes at her as she tried to probe my brain, which I instantly closed off from her.

"Don't try Angel," I replied.

"HE SPEAKS!" Gazzy threw his arms up in celebration. I chuckled and continued typing away. It was time to get my followers back into preventing the end of the world plan. I was by no means being half hearted about this. I earnestly wanted to promote teens, the human ones, to do what's within their power to save our home and planet. Maybe I was doing it to lighten our burden, maybe I was doing to be the righteous hero? Who knew?

I was aware that Gazzy was rambling, and Angel was complaining how everyone seemed to have their minds blocked these days, but I paid no attention. Iggy loved Max . . . I should have seen it coming. Maybe I did and didn't want too. Nudge loved Iggy, that was definitely a shocker. I love and kissed Max. Where the hell does this leave our family? It was too complicated to think about, so I neatly stored it away in the back of my mind. Iggy and Max, I could deal with, but Nudge was a whole other story. In my head, she was just a kid.

I stopped typing to rub my temples and try to forget the thoughts previously plagueing my mind. It's time the flock talked some things through.

"Gazzy," I finally responded, effectively shutting him up. He gave me his undivided attention and an eager look in his eyes. I almost felt bad for deceiving the kid. "Get the flock together in the dining room. Do whatever you have to,"

"Can I use my flaming farts?" He almost pounced where he stood. I visibly paled at the idea.

"No!" I told him firmly, Gazzy frowned but ran to look for the others. Angel smiled, grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen with her. Max, Iggy, Nudge, Total, and Gazzy all rolled in one by one. The atmosphere in our small kitchen was so thick with tension that it hung like fog in the early morning. I could pretend that I didn't notice, but I did. The tension seemed to extend to me as well. To my dismay, Max wouldn't meet my eyes, but she wouldn't meet Iggy's either. Iggy watched Max, and Nudge watched Iggy. I sighed; life was just so cruel some times.

Gazzy whistled. "Who died?" he squirmed under the heavy air. I noticed Iggy crack a tiny grin at the Gasman. Nudge too didn't look as weary.

"No one died Gazzy. Nudge likes Iggy and he broke her heart and told Max he loved her who was kissed by Fang yesterday. Max can't choose between Fang and Iggy, and Iggy is confused because now Nudge likes him, Fang is skeptical of Nudge liking Iggy, and you and I are the odd ones out." Angel rolled her eyes as she listed off. Nudge and Max blushed brilliantly and began playing with hair or clothes, whatever girls do when their embarrassed; Iggy and I avoided eye contact.

I cleared my throat. "Now's not the time for that Angel. We have work to do," She shrugged, but smirked quite evidently. Little brat knew everything. She shot me a dirty look.

"Oh god! Please tell me there isn't any manual labor involved! I _cannot_ afford break another paw nail!" Total squeaked and jumped into Angel's lap. She instantly brightened and began stroking his fur endearingly. No one paid attention to the Scottish retriever.

"Something happened yesterday didn't it?" Iggy murmured in realization. "I knew something strange was goin on when you showed with scratched up face,"

"We were attacked," I nodded at Iggy. His jaw dropped in shock. I looked pointedly at Max. She realized what I was asking.

"We, umm, we were going for a walk and Fang suddenly became really tense," She began to explain in a quiet voice. "It took me a few seconds, but then I felt it too. We were being follow –err – watched. Next I know, we're in the clearing and are about to take off, when the…_wyvern_ threw me against a tree. It quite literally attacked out of nowhere,"

"How can that be?" Nudge asked abruptly. "We destroyed Itex; there is no School, Günter Hagan, Mr. Chu or Dr. God, or any other freaky scientist. It's been almost a year since we were last attacked, and since we took the Chu-ster. I starting think that with all this calmness in our lives the evilness in this world might have declined. But seeing as you guys were attacked yesterday, clearly someone's out to get us. Who else is left to attack us?"

"Well, we are coolest super humans on this planet. Who wouldn't wanna attack us?" Gazzer piped after her, but then his face contorted in confusion. "What's a wyvern?"

"It's a mythical creature Gazzy. Fang just nicknamed it," Max gently explained. I nodded; something didn't quite add up. As Nudge said, it had been almost a year since our encounter with a mad scientist plotting take over the world. One thing they all had in common was their massive ego that basically announced their presence before attacking us. There was always some kinda pattern to these attacks. But this one was LITERALLY random. No explanation what so ever.

"Fang is thinking there are absolutely no leads what so ever," Angel announced. I frowned at her as if to say "stay out of my head" not that the threat ever worked on the mischievous eight year old. The flock may have felt displeased with my notion, but even they couldn't seem to think of an explanation. But Angel tried chipping back into the conversation again. "Come on Fang, think! You must have seen something!" She says almost in a demeaning manner. Girls….I swear they're never the same person two days in a row.

"None," I respond. Because it was true; the attack was random, and we didn't even know who we were up against.

"You guys are _sooo_ old fashion," Nudge sighed impatiently. The flock's attention was now on her. Nudge, who had been staring at the floor diligently, noticed that we were all now staring at her. She blushed like she said something she shouldn't have.

"Really Nudge?"Iggy snorted sarcastically. "Enlighten us then," He said with a hard edge. I guess I should have realized that my kissing Max would make Iggy take his anger out on Nudge. I wanted to intervene since it was me Iggy was mad at, not Nudge. She didn't give me that chance.

"Don't you dare take your anger out on me Iggy! We have more important matters than your feelings right now," She snapped back just as harshly. Iggy hissed in anger, and opened his mouth for another insult.

"Both of you shut up!" I commanded. This was not getting us anywhere. From my peripheral vision, I notice Max guiltily sink in her chair. "Max and I were attacked by an experiment from an unknown enemy. I know it's hard, but you all need to put your personal feelings aside at the moment!" I say in one big breath. Nudge and Iggy exchange heated glares but instantly close their mouths.

"Whoa Fang, I think that's a new record!" Gazzy piped in excitedly. I grimaced, this was all so hopeless. Nudge cleared her throat and looked at me with excited eyes. She had an idea.

"You said you were followed correct? Max and you were most likely walking along some public boulevard chasing the sunset yadda yadda." Nudge began to ramble. I gave her a pointed look but she continued anyway. "My point is, you were in a public area, meaning cameras. Cameras in front of shops, on the streets, before the traffic lights, around the stores. If I could get a laptop connected to one of those cameras I can rewind to yesterday's images and find out who was tracking you and Max. Depending on who we find, I can later hack into a government computer and find out all sorts of personal information. Everything from our enemy's background, family or friends association, address, time and location of the places they've been spotted in the last three years or so. You name it; I bet you I could pull it up. "

I blinked in surprise. It was brilliant. It was offense. It was a direct attack on our enemy. For once we would be one step ahead in the game. I grinned at her and nodded in approval. It didn't take too long to come up with a plan after that. Iggy and Gazzy managed to work together and pulled a laptop and the cables for Nudge's hacking.

In my hurry to gather some quick recon supplies, I caught Iggy awkwardly pushing a laptop towards Nudge and asking Gazzy to help her out. Iggy was acting like prick to Nudge but to my astonishment, Nudge just nodded gratefully and turned her attention to Gazzy. She was on full mission mode. It seemed that an entire year without Max forced Nudge to grow up faster than I thought.

I shook my head clear of those thoughts. There was no time to be dwelling on such things. I racked my mind trying to figure out all the different reason we were attacked. Obviously it was some kinda warning from some evil, demented, science lab letting us know "We're still fnicking alive, we're gonna hunt you down," well something along those lines. We know that their creating experiments. Yesterday, Max and I were attacked by a wyvern, most likely a prototype. Maybe the bad guys were testing out our strength. That wyvern was no joke either. It was strong. Stronger than anything we faced before. Also unlike our enemies before (i.e. Erasers, flyboys, m-geeks) these wyverns were smart. They learned after one attack.

If I hadn't spent so many years practicing functioning while keeping all my thoughts in my head, I probably would have run head first into a wall. Maybe I would have walked right through the wall if it weren't for a hesitant tug on my sleeve. I found Max staring intently at my shoes.

"I –could I…that is…" Max sighed as she was having a hard time speaking. "Fang, who is Lissa?"

_Beep, beep, beep,_either there was a bomb in this room that would hopefully explode in five seconds, or that was the ringing of my heart in my ears. I wanted to groan. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw a tantrum. Of all things Max should ask me, why this, why now? Did this mean she remembered something? Why Lissa of all things.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"A-angel –errr – had a vision this morning. She w-wouldn't say what, but she was moaning that name. Is it her mom?" Max asked quite innocently. She cocked her heart shape faced to the side in mild curiosity, letting her straight blond locks of hair drape gracefully across her shoulders. Growing up on the run and getting through thousands of sticky situations in my life taught me how to make a fast lie. However when Max looked at me with those wide chocolate brown eyes that glimmered no matter what slant of light she stood below, made me weak in my knees. I couldn't lie to her.

"No, you're Angel's mom. You're the mother of the flock." I reply to her first question quite honestly. She saw the hesitation on my face; Max could always read me better than anyone. She smiled softly with those plump pink lips, prompting me to continue. My eyes softened as I tried to tell her as gently as possible. "Lissa… wa-is the biggest mistake I ever made. I kissed her while we were together. You left the flock, and asked Bridget to wipe your memories. You know the story from there."

Max's reaction was one of wide teary eyes, slackened jaw, and frozen stance. Her grip around my wrist faltered for a moment and then she tightened it again. "You're lying," She muttered through gritted teeth. I shook my head. "You're lying." She repeated on the verge of tears.

"I won't ask you to forgive me."

"No!" She shouted. "I know you! You would never do that Fang! I refuse to believe that _I_ would just accept that you and Lissa were kissing. Something happened right? She was….she was controlling, or manipulating you in some way wasn't she? Did she force herself on you?" Max blubbered through her tears. I gently pried away Max's hand (as she was cutting off the circulation in my hand) and grasped her delicate hands my own calloused rough hands.

"Doesn't change that I kissed her. I broke your trust Max. I won't expect you to forgive me."

"No it's impossible!" She vehemently denied. "Just because I don't have any memories Fang, doesn't mean I don't remember my feelings. Even now, my heart has absolute trust in you." I brushed the tears away from her eyes, and cupped my hand around her cheek. I didn't like seeing Max this way. It seemed all I capable of doing these days was making Max cry. I would have been proud of this achievement a year ago, but now…god please don't take my manhood away for saying this…I would give anything to make her smile. Of course I'd never tell anyone I felt that way.

"We had a hard life Max. Our trust in the outsiders was limited if not nonexistent. The one stable thing in our lives was each other. I broke that trust we built." I calmly whispered. Max continued to cry quietly, her eyes never left mine as I explained. I kissed her forehead softly, swung a green khaki drawstring bag around my shoulders and left Max standing in the middle of the hallway. I didn't dare glance back, if I did, I wouldn't be able to function.

I found Nudge ensconced into a couch rapidly typing away on her laptop setting it up for our mission. I let her know that we were leaving in five. Before the two of us walked out of the door, Iggy pulled Nudge aside. "Now is not the time, Iggy," She replied softly, the previous anger melting into a cumbersome smile. Iggy promised it would only take a minute, and looked to me with pleading eyes. I nodded, allowing them to talk.

# # # # # #

Fifteen minutes later, Nudge and I were soaring high in the clouds. We fly in silent steady pace. Nudge and I were currently an hour's fly from the boulevard Max and I had journeyed only yesterday. After their little "talk" Nudge returned quietly and we ended up doing an up and away without much conversation. It almost irked me that the fly was so silent. I couldn't believe I was going to admit this, but I actually missed Nudge's incessant chattering.

I glanced at her ever so slightly with a tiny swivel of my eyes. Nudge's mocha complexion seemed almost reddish, but not with a usual blush, but a steamy face. Her eyes were crunched together creating wrinkles on her brow, and her teeth were angrily tearing at her lips. I shouldn't ask. I really should just keep my mouth shut, enjoy some quiet non-awkwardness and let this mission run as smoothly as possible. Yes I would do exactly that.

"You're angry," I smartly told her. Nudge shot me copy of the famous Maximum Ride glare, no doubt she picked it up after seeing it only a thousand times, but her eyes had a more mischievous glint in them. Perhaps I eased some her anger by speaking up.

"Really, what gave you that idea Fang? Does being emo come with face reading abilities or is that another perk of being a bird kid?"

"It's perk of growing up together." Nudge snorted and rolled her eyes, but flew closer, matching my wing stride. I ignored her emo comment for now, but she was definitely getting it later. Nudge looked to me with thoughtful eyes. Her eyes were no longer that of an ignorant child, they were intelligent, wise, and full of pain. Her eyes made Nudge seem four times her age. Gone was the chatterbox girl with a knack for fashion and caffeinated coffee drinks. At this moment she was replaced with Nudge, the genius hacking bird kid, who faced more horrors in her short fourteen years than the average human. She was hurting and a lot.

"Iggy is an idiot." She began. "He said something stupid again. Something about 'losing Max the moment he confessed to her and I can't compete with Fang.' It pisses me off, Fang. I get that Iggy rejected me because he sincerely loved Max. But the moment that dummy realized that Max could never be his, because I 100% support the two of you, he came to me." She said exasperatedly.

"I see," I stupidly open my mouth again. Why did I bother? Oh right cause I have a fnicking soft spot for the girl. Though I'd rather die than admit it, I always was very protective of the flock (the girls especially). Of course if I admitted that aloud Max would have skinned me alive for being a sexist pig and beat into my head the "girls can fight" speech. Sometimes keeping my mouth shut seemed to be the only thing keeping me alive. Whoever said silence was a virtue is a damn genius.

Nudge snorted once more. "You don't have to talk Fang. Trust me, you're not the first person I'd want to talk about this kinda stuff with but seeing as we are nearly a half an hour away from Angel and Max and like 1000 feet in the sky, I'm gonna talk and you can just listen. Okay? Okay. So I know that when I put it as 'Iggy coming to me,' sounds like he made me his rebound but I don't think it's like that. The dummy was literally admitting his defeat. Kinda like he knew he stood no chance with Max. He knew I was right and came to apologize. Obviously I'm going to be pissed. He gave up way too easily don't ya think? He loves Max a lot, I know, I can see it. If Iggy's got balls at all he wouldn't stop fighting for her.

"By the way Fang, don't you get an ego boost because I think Iggy doesn't stand a chance with Max. I don't think you do either. For all you know, this time around Max might not choose anyone. Okay maybe she could choose you, but the way Max is now, she probably wants nothing to do with the Flock. I just wish Max would hurry up and remember us. I love her no matter what her personality, but I want Max to remember us. Oops, I got off topic didn't I? So I'm not Iggy's rebound, right Fang?"

My mind reeled at the amount of information Nudge threw at me. I flew a bit uncomfortably. I knew Iggy lo-liked Max like I did, but I thankfully didn't know the details. At least until Nudge decided to open her mouth. She may have rambled a lot, but some of what she said made sense. She was really thinking about this. As guy, it's not really my policy to figure this stuff out with words. But that's what Nudge needed right now. I really hope I don't screw this up.

"Iggy's a good man. He wouldn't do that to you." was my reply. Iggy may lo-like the same girl I do and sure we both wanted her, but it didn't change the fact that Iggy was like a brother to me. I'd never think bad of him just because he fell in lo- liked the same women I did. Can't really say I blame him, Max is just…beautiful. But she was mine.

"You're not jealous?" Nudge asked in astonishment. I frowned; I definitely deserved more credit than that.

"He's a better man than I am. I wouldn't blame Max for choosing him."

"But you still love her, right Fang? I mean I know Iggy loves her too, but I know how you and Max used to be. You guys were like soul mates. I mean Iggy no offense, but you just can't compete with that." Nudge rambled more to herself than me. I inwardly blushed at the word. Wait, not blushed, and just got warmer in the cheeks, yeah. But Nudge's words bothered me in other ways.

"This isn't about us. What do you feel Nudge?" that's right, I just something smooth and philosophical. Notice my thoughts and words make it seem like I have a split personality. I glanced at Nudge; she smiled with certain softness. I almost wanted to look away, but with a smile like that, Nudge looked quite beautiful. Maybe it's too early for her and Iggy, she's just a kid right?

"I love him Fang. So much. I don't know when or how, but I somehow fell in love with Iggy. Of course I know he doesn't really have eyes for me. I'm just a kid sister in his eyes. It hurts, but I know that's all I can ever be." She whispered.

"People change," I replied. That was the last thing either of us talked about. Less than ten minutes later, we landed in the tall trees a few streets away from the boulevard. We navigated out of the domesticated wilderness with ease, and quietly blended in the crowd of city dwellers going for their morning jogs. I pointed out to Nudge the exact path Max and I took yesterday. Being a bird kid allowed as to have extraordinary memory among other things.

Nudge's plan was simply, I needed to use my ability to turn us invisible so that we could climb up to one of the street cameras. My first question was obviously if doing this in broad daylight was good idea. Nudge just waved me off and said it didn't matter since we were invisible anyway. Plus, she guessed we'd have to make a few stops to catch our enemy, and the more time wasted, the more time lost.

We ducked behind a booth, and I latched my arms around her. I focused all my energy into completely masking our presences. "No sudden movements" I told her. The faster she moved the more visible we became. We approached the street camera on the boulevard at an agonizingly slow pace. The only thing harder was climbing up. Nudge, with scrupulous movements, carefully unscrewed the back of the camera, and began cutting wires. She then retied the inner copper parts with other wires that extended to her laptop. This took her less than three minutes.

Within moments, she had the screen opened up and fingers dancing across the keyboard at a rapid tempo. Hundreds of windows opened up on the monitor, even with my enhanced eyes I couldn't keep up with the hundred thousand images being shown in the frame of a minute. I watched in amazement as her eyes rolled rapidly side to side reading in the information. When the movement of her eyes slowed enough, I noticed that the color of her eyes were different. They were a light, almost silvery blue.

"Got it!" She quietly exclaimed forty-five minutes later. Although I spent much of that time clueless, and just carrying Nudge (strong as I am, forty minutes killed my arms, not to mention keeping our veil of invisibility flowing), I thanked God we could move on. I nodded at her, and we climbed down together carefully. (She fixed the camera first though).

I wanted to ask her what she found, but the moment we turned visible; she placed her laptop back into her backpack. Without answering she walked into a store about fifty yards from where we stood. It was just a random junkie store with useless souvenirs that no one wanted to buy. I wanted to ask if she was fooling around. I guess she was because she suddenly paused, ripped a pair of sunglasses off the display, and forced it onto my face. I scowled.

"Yeah, you're right. They're too cheap." She muttered and pried them away, and stalked away from me once more. Bewildered, I followed her again. This time she stopped in one of the isles to try on a sunbonnet. "You think it'd suit Max?" I glared in response. She giggled and replaced the hat. Nudge quickly walked to the back end of the store, running her fingers along clothing, pausing briefly picking things up and placing them back. I gritted my teeth and bared my fist but said nothing. It wasn't until we reached the very back did I understand what she was doing.

We came across a door that said "Employees only." Nudge casually opened the door and swiftly walked in before we could draw too much attention. Now her "shopping" like motions made sense. She was trying to get us to blend in. (Probably because I stood out with my incredibly good looks. Damn I sound like Iggy).

She plopped herself in a spinney chair in front of the ancient 1990's Microsoft computers with huge monitors. The computer buzzed to life and showed images of the interior of the store. Nudge scrolled through the views in the store till she located the one by the front door. Then she scrolled the video in rewind. I saw the two of us walking in followed by those weird blond chicks that kept brushing up against me. Watching it like this, I felt disgusted that I didn't see their intention earlier. Nudge kept rewinding to yesterdays film. Bingo, we saw a flash of red.

"I knew it!" Nudge exclaimed when the image came to life. My jaw dropped; there was no way this was real. "I knew it was her! When I was scrolling through the footage of the street view I kept seeing all the same red flashes by you and Max. But she was too good to get caught by the street cameras. Lucky for us she was stupid enough to walk into a store. Look at the video, she walked in, stared at the two of you from inside the store, and then walked out and jumped into a car." Nudge explained rapidly. I started to put together all that she has been doing till now. Nudge. Is. Amazing. I thought in awe. I reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Good job Nudge." I grinned at her proudly. Nudge laughed under my hand, but as soon as our good mood came, it left. "Why is Lissa after us?" I spoke aloud.

"That's what I'm gonna find out. Let's try the store above us. They should have a view of the street from the outside. I'll try and zoom into the license plate. If we can get a number, I can track down the owner and find why, what, and who the bi-Lissa is working for." She grinned. I opened my mouth to tell her let get a move on, but at that precise moment, the door swung wide open.

The silence that followed was so sudden and sharp that I could have heard a pin drop. . I placed and arm on Nudge's shoulder. My invisibility stretched fast, faster than ever before. We held our breath as our hearts reached the pinnacle of its beating. Here we were…trapped by an eighty year old lady in deadly cheap red lipstick, and cheek pinching claws armed for battle. You cannot say you have faced worse!

"Wha-" the manager, an old lady in her eighties wearing a red apron, gasped. The manager blinked and wiped her old bifocal glasses off. "Must be getting old," she grunted and left the room. Nudge and I let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close!" Nudge sighed with a goofy grin. I threw my head back and let out a hearty laugh. What an understatement. Nudge giggled softly with me. She stood up and quickly turned off the monitors. Before we could exit the room, Nudge stumbled and fell forward.

I caught her with ease; however, her body went limp in my arms. Alarmed, and gently held her head in my arms as her body collapsed and shut down on her.

"Nudge?"

"swry- cough –sorry I think I used my ability too much." She whispered softly. I carefully shifted her so that she could breath. I noticed for the first time how truly pale Nudge had become. Beads of sweat lined her head, and her dark brown tresses were slightly matted to her head. Her eyes flickered and her breaths slowly picked up again. I looked at her for an explanation.

"You know Fang, I never really told you about my ability did I? Well just hold me for a minute and let me explain while I reenergize." She began rambling, the usual Nudge back with me. I suppressed an amused smile and decided to let her rest a moment. I quickly placed a chair under the door so we wouldn't get any more visitors. Nudge waited for me to finish, deep in thought, thinking about where to start her story.

"I hate my abilities you know? I hate them more than anything. Not because they make me more of a freak then I am, but because it's so freakishly annoying. Every time I touch a friggen laptop, camera, ipod, whatever, I can see number and symbols rolling around in my mind. I don't know what they mean, only that I know what to do with them. When I find something I need among the freakish symbols, they pop out at me and all of a sudden I know what to do. It's so friggen annoying. It's so mentally draining too!" She whined.

By now, her ramble fest was over and we slipped back into the store completely unnoticed; it was like we were never there. I let Nudge explain, but I was only half listening. Something about symbols popping out right? I was more worried about Nudge's sudden collapse and Lissa's sudden appearance in our lives. How does yesterday's attack relate to Lissa at all? More importantly, why did she choose to jump me nearly a year back?

I frowned. There were more answers than questions at this point. Looks like Nudge and I would have to push our mental abilities to a whole new level. We were going to find out who Lissa worked for and what where her motives.

**Jan 18. Happy birthday Kiki **

**I made a small reference to the movie "The Da Vinci Code" in here. I saw the movie a few days ago. It was amazing. **

**REWRITTEN Chapter 1 should be up in a few days**

**Happy Reading!**

**Review please :P**


	17. Of Recon Missions and Visions

**I'm terribly sorry for the extremely late update. I think you've guessed by now that I tend to update once a month, but I have NOT given up on this story at all. **

**Well this chapter turned out to be much longer than I expected; I never knew that one paragraph summary of chapter 16 would turn into a 5,500 words chapter. The wonder eh? **

**So I've noticed that Angel and Gazzy have not played much of a role in this story but truthfully I really don't have a need for them. They'll pop in and play a bigger part in the next chapter. Also, I don't know if you remember, but a few chapter back Iggy took Total to visit Akeila, his lovely darling, so he's basically out of the story for a while. **

**Chapter 16: Of Recon Missions, Visions, and Old Acquaintances **

**Fang POV**

"Focus your energy into short quick bursts," I instructed softly. Max grunted and pulled her fist back for a second punch. I caught her fist and pushed her back. "Again," She huffed in exhaustion but looked determined to pull one good punch. She fainted with her right and tried striking with her left. I bent backwards and safely let her fist pass me. I tried to hide my pleased smirk –had she pulled that a little faster— I might have fallen for it.

While Max's current fighting skills were a shadow of her former self, she was improving at a rapid rate. Just as flying had come easily to her, her keen instinct for a fight was no longer dormant within her. Her punches were starting to become unpredictable; her unpredictable fighting style was what made Max the best fighter. It was instinctual, wild, and deadly, even more so when she was fueled with the fire to protect her flock. Max laughed at her own clumsy attempt but this time she ducked and tried to kick my feet out from under me. I placed my arms on her shoulders and flipped over her body.

"Show off" she frowned slightly teasingly. I raised an eye brow at her and then quickly ducked another punch. While she was still a softie, on the battle field (figuratively of course, standing on edge of a barren cliff is hardly considered a battle field after all) she was deadly. It seemed the more Max opened up to us, the more her old wit, sarcasm, and sassy attitude seemed to surface.

I was currently teaching Max how to fight. The reason . . . well it went something like this:

_I winced as I walked behind Nudge cursing her for wearing those stupid heels whose clicking could be heard a mile away. For god's sake, we were sneaking into a government building for the sake of hacking some information; if those heels weren't a dead giveaway then the government was stupider that I thought. Getting into the building was the easy part. As soon as we were in Nudge donned us with some disguises. Why I let her pick the disguises I will never know. _

_After Nudge recovered from her initial collapse, we managed to get the license plate ID easily enough. That's when Nudge sprang on me that we would be hacking into a __**level 3**__ government computer. The first two levels were accessible to any idiot who was stupid enough to hack a __**government computer**__ in a __**government building**__. I'll let you know when I meet one. On the other hand, level three needed identification, finger prints, codes, the whole nine yards. Nudge reassured me that as long as I got her past security she would take care of the rest._

_And so, I pushed my invisibility power to the extreme. I turned us invisible the entire time we were in the building, and when we got to the third floor of the government building we ran into my biggest problem yet: a full body scanner. This one could detect body heat as well as metal objects. Both of which I had push my mental capacity to its fullest to cover. And guess what? I FNICKING erased our body heat from motion scanners! I'm starting to wonder if the school created as super weapons instead of "saviors of the world" or "advancing the human race." _

_But that was what we were doing: sneaking around in government building in Nudge's soap opera style disguises. I seriously needed to lecture her later about watching too many of those cop shows. I was in a full suit and tie attire while Nudge wore a formal business blouse and skirt; how she passed for twenty year old I will never know. _

_We walked in casually like we belonged and no one seemed to pay us any mind (unless you count the blonde hags with much too revealing blouses fluttering their eyes at me…it was gross. They were at least twenty years older than me). Nudge decided that waiting near the cappuccino machine was our safest place. And so we stood there making vending machine quality coffee for nearly five minutes when we found the break we needed. A middle age woman left her computer, monitor still running, to run an errand for her boss. _

_"Nudge, leave the coffee," I warned her before we snuck over there. I was rewarded with the evil eyes. She was definitely going to make me pay (for pricy coffee) later. She got down to work without anymore prompting from me. While she worked on the computer, I kept a look out for the woman who sat there previously. _

_I avoided watching Nudge do her work. There was something unnerving about Nudge forcing herself to look at those "floating letters" as she puts it. It seemed that Nudge's hacking abilities put a large mental strain on the fourteen year old. Despite what she said earlier, I think she rather enjoys the challenge presented by hacking. _

_"Nudge," I whispered under my breath. "We're being suspected." I say in hushed tones. She looks at me with pleading eyes, she's not done yet. I shuffle around like I'm working when pair of security guards approached me. They did their "we're completely suspicious of you but are trying to be polite even though we just want to pull our guns out" routine. True to my character, I responded in viable one word or sentence answers. The guards seemed extremely peeved that my lack of vocabulary didn't allow them the chance to assess whether I was telling the truth or lying. I played it cool and had a pleasant smile. _

_"Hello you lovely gentleman. Wow is that a police badge, you guys really look like the strong, rough–and-tough save the world kinda men. As grateful as we are for your services, I would really appreciate it if you would stop questioning my co-worker," Nudge sweetly cut in and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. The guards blinked in reply. I sighed and grabbed Nudge's arm. We took off in hurry and jumped out the third floor window. A lot of employs screamed and shouted when we jumped, but we left them quite speechless when we "vanished" into thin air. _

_Did I mention that Nudge hacked the security system and froze all cameras and security feeds on the third floor? No. Well now you know. Unless one of those desk job geeks pulled out their cellphones, there should be no concrete proof that Nudge and I were ever there to begin. I glared at Nudge mid-flight. She shrugged in response. _

_"I was just having some fun. Now if you wanna know what I found, you better buy me that coffee you promised. No scratch it, I want a cappuccino. Oh god, I'm drooling, figuratively of course, just thinking about that cold chocolate goodness. You know Fang, I've been thinking about middle names. Could mine be something sweet like Coco, or Chocolate? I think its cut-"_

_"Nudge." I cut her off, with slight grin. "What did you find out?" Nudge grinned deviously and listed all that she discovered. _

_"Okay, so like we had two leads before coming here, the license plate and Lissa. Unfortunately, we don't know Lissa's last name, or if that name really is her real name. I mean even if it were real there was always the chance that it was an alias. Anyway my point is that using Lissa's name itself was too risky. _

_"So I tracked the license plate. I found this name: Edward James Alexander Monroe Clarke Charleston. Whew, that's a mouthful. So I tried searching all variations of that name. I looked for a few connections to Lissa, like having a seventeen year old daughter, or being super rich, like you know that Lissa's dad paid for Iggy's eyes, right. Then I searched for something more generic like 'human experimentation' or 'genetic experimentation,' blah, something like that. I hit a jack pot! His official name in the United States is Edward Clarke. The guys a bloody Brit. His data supported all our theories. He also has a daughter and government funded laboratory in Washington!"_

_Nudge said all this with exaggerated excitement. I couldn't help but be astonished at her thought process. The kid was damn smarter than anyone gave her credit for. I was so glad that she was on my side because Hacker Nudge is not an enemy I would ever want to make. I processed her words carefully. The conclusion was quite obvious. "So he's the one then. The one who sent the Wyverns. Do you have a location on this lab?"_

_Nudge grinned deviously in reply. _

So that was the basic story of how Nudge and I figured out the organization after us. They didn't have a name so we referred it to having Lissa being after us. After Nudge and I got back from our little mission, the flock had another meeting. It was clear to us that our peaceful life wasn't going to last forever. We needed to be prepared to move and live on the run again.

Iggy tried to pack and preserve any food and money he could incase we needed to make a quick escape. Nudge and Gazzy worked together to set traps around the house and motion detectors in case we were being watched or about to be attacked. Much to my dismay, I had no choice to send Angel out to do most of our shopping. Max was against the idea just as me, but she was the only one who could change her outer appearance and control the mind of the people around her. It made sense that Angel should carry out all our supply runs. I also eventually bugged Iggy to go with her as much as possible.

That left just Max and I. I told Max, should we live life on the run again, she needed toughen up. The easy life style she led for the past year, the only life style her mind remembered, needed to be left behind. Max needed to be re-taught how to fight and survive. So here Angel, Max, and I were out on the back deck training Max. Angel mostly watched.

"Take a break," I told Max nearly two hours after the last break. She smiled and quickly collapsed on her knees not needing to be told twice. She laid back taking heavy breaths and Angel brought a bottle of water over to her. I sat next to Max who shyly accepted my gesture and continued to stare off into the horizon. But my eyes were on her, only her.

"What are you thinking about?" Max quietly asked, pulling me out of retreat. I shook my head. She didn't want to know. I didn't even want to admit that I was still thinking about…that. Angel shot me a knowing look. I couldn't meet her eyes. Because in all honesty, the memory of the vision she showed me was haunting. I shivered as the memory of the vision came back to me. I was…watching myself dying.

_The first thing I noticed was scorched red valley and a blood red sky. The sun was angrily glaring down on all that dared show their face. I, the figurative me watching the Angel's vision, was standing high above in the sky. This didn't bother me some much as the scene before me did. I saw myself, hunched over a body. _

_From the part of me that I could see from above, I saw a torn shirt, bloodied jeans, scars and bruises all over my arms, and tears trickling down my face. The blood and the scars I could understand, but for the life of me I could NOT figure out why I was crying. I frowned and leaned closer into the scene. I found the face of the body._

_"Max!" My vision-self screamed in distraught. Fear raced through me as I watched this part of the vision, I dove down to her side. My Max's side. There was blood. Lots and lots of blood. I jumped in shock at the sight of large gaping wound in her abdomen. No, horror filled my veins as I saw how ghastly pale she was laying in my vision-self's arms. No. _

_"Fang…I-" Max tried to whisper. But my vision self collapsed in exhaustion next to her. Get up, I wanted to urge my vision self. I saw myself blinking in and out of consciousness, unable to carry Max any further. "Leave me, please" she whispered. _

_I saw a small smile grace my face and-_

And so the memory completely cut off. I wanted to pretend I never saw it, I wanted to be angry with Angel for showing me something so horrid, but I can't. There was just…_so_ much blood. Even now when I close my eyes I can see her face from the vision. She was pale, and her body was limp. And there was so much blood. I shuddered at the thought.

"Fang, are you alright?" Max grabbed my hand comfortingly. If I flinched I might have hid it well. I nodded and for her sake, allowed a tiny smile. She smiled back brightly in response and continued to stare into the orangey pink evening sky. I sight softly at the sight of the warm sunrays reflecting of her carefree face. I wished to always see her like this, smooth faced and teasing crinkle in her eyes. If there was any positive side to Max losing her memories, I would say that I'm happy she didn't remember what it was like to live in cages, to be betrayed over and over again, to always be on the run and survive on the bare minimums.

The Max I had right now knew nothing about such grueling measures. She was as carefree and innocent as a seventeen year old girl should be. The old Max had been forced grow up faster than the rest of us. Even while I was her right-hand man, I was still pretty carefree and reckless. It wasn't until I was suddenly in charge of four other bird kids to realize just how much growing up and responsibilities I needed to take. But I can't bring myself to regret becoming the leader in her stead. There was just something so… endearing about raising the flock. Something nice about taking care of others; whatever the feeling was, I just hope that one day, Max and I could-

"Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang!" Two high pitched girly voices interrupted my daydream. Then I was suddenly pitched forward as two heavy weights seemed to crash into me. I let out a soft "oomph," and fell on my stomach, Angel and Nudge dog piling above me.

"What do you want?" I retorted trying to sound annoyed. Max giggled and pulled little (just kidding, she was 100 year old evil genius hiding in the body of a seven year old) Angel into her arms. Nudge smiled teasingly and held her hand out.

"Jeb is here," She whispered with a soft sad smile. I nodded, rose to my feet, and dusted my jeans off. I caught Max's confused eyes staring into my back but I let Angel explain who he was. I didn't want to be the one to tell Max who her (Betraying) father is. I felt something (Angel) probing my mind trying to guilt me for making her explain. I internally rolled my eyes and said please.

True enough, Jeb Batchelder, the filthy rich man himself, brought down to our humble abode. To say his appearance was a shock was an understatement. Last I saw him, he was a posh old scientist with too much time and money on his hands. But now…he was a shallow echo of his former self. Jeb was garbed in an old cardigan sweater with some collage name brand, black trousers, and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.

"Well, well, it seems our fellow mad scientist finally decided to crawl out from under his rock," I half mocked and half glared at the oddly docile old man. But docile was hardly a good description of Jeb, he was mad, twisted, plotting and greedy old geezer with his reasons justified for the sake of "Saving the World and other Extreme Sports."

"I see you've picked up a new hobby Fang. Tell me, does talking haughtily come with practice or experience?"

"You should be happy we talk to you at all Jeb," I retorted trying to keep the venom under lock and key. Jeb may have played part in helping us find Max but it doesn't change the fact that the man came and left in our lives as he pleased. The caustic smile on Jeb's face wearily slid off, and then I could see what the broken old man Jeb had been reduced too. His hair was salt and pepper, blackish speckled with the grey, his eyes were wrinkled with age and weariness, and face sunken and pale with withdrawal. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the man had been drinking away at his sorrows. "So what brings you to our humble abode?"

Jeb chuckled humorously, and pulled a tiny flask (A real fnicking flask!) from his trench coat pocket. "Calm down Fang, its only medicine I promise,"

"In a flask?"

"Maybe it's illegal."

"What do you want from us Jeb?" I gritted my teeth. It was hard to deal with Jeb like this. The man had lost his touch. His sharp mind was dulled and his once professionally indifferent personality faded into one of madness. Perhaps the guilt of Jeb's deeds finally caught up with him or perhaps it was the loneliness of losing his wives (both Max's and Ari's moms), losing his precious lab, giving his only son up to be an experiment, and abandoning the flock who looked up to him like a father. I don't know what plagued Jeb but I couldn't really find it in myself to care or sympathize with him.

"Perhaps it is you that needs something from me?"

"Cut the bull Jeb. You want something from us."

Jeb chuckled long and hard, followed by a shallow wheezing cough. "I may not look it, but I am dying man Fang. My days in this world are numbered. Could you blame an old man for not wanting to spend his last moments alone, riddled with guilt for what he did to his own son and then his daughter and their friends? Can you blame an old man for wanting to make amends and pass on peacefully?"

I snorted in response. I didn't really believe Jeb was dying or maybe I didn't want to believe. "I never really took you for the type Jeb. I figured you'd be looking for the Fountain of Youth about now."

"Nah…this old man has already done his fair share of destruction in this world. But he still has a few useful breathes left in him yet," I ignored his oddly philosophical voice and immediately picked up on the fact that Jeb knew. Jeb had an inkling of what was going on right now and by the looks of it, he had plenty of information to shed. I grinned almost haughty with glee and kicked my feet up on the coffee table.

"Let's hear it then."

"Very well, I'll keep it brief then. Mr. Chu was one of the last leading human experimentation researchers and genetic-mutation scientists. It was under his authority that the practice continued even after Itex fell. By destroying him, you destroyed his followers, his various employments and labs, and basically shut down his field of science. Any existing sites after that seemed to completely shut down after hearing that the government was in aid of their experiments, namely you, the Flock.

"As you recall, you and the flock have been hiding out here for almost two years since your last encounter with that world. You weren't chased or hunted because for the last two years the field of human experimentation had been all but exterminated."

"But it's not." Iggy cut in dumbfound. I realized that from the moment Jeb walked in here that Iggy had been quietly observing him, even after I walked into the living room. He only decided to make his appearance known now. I glanced at Iggy sharply and a strained look was exchanged between the two of us. Jeb watched suspiciously of our interaction. I scoot over on the couch and picked my feet off the coffee table before Iggy could nag me for it. "We're being hunted again. Well sort of. Their methods are bit different this time. We didn't know who was attacking us till we searched for answers on our own. As melodramatic as it sounds, our enemies usually have some kinda a flashing billboard screaming 'we are (insert name here) and we're gonna turn you into weapons' sorta thing. But like I said…this time it was different. We got a name…Edward Clark or something. Do you know him?"

"And why he waited so long to attack?" I cut in Iggy's ramble (He was spending way too much time around Nudge, maybe it was a good thing maybe not. But I think I'd rather keep my distance than get skinned alive for interfering).

"Yes I do know of him." Jeb's face contorted into disgust. "His name is Edward Clarke. Unfortunately he's the only disciple I've ever taken-"

"Oh that's great. The world of mad scientists has a master-disciple system going on. And you wonder why the world is so corrupt?" Iggy snorted and threw his hands up in exasperation. I couldn't help but snicker at his stupid but completely true remark. Without thinking we bumped fists in our mutual understanding but then flinched back when our skin met. Iggy's eye twitched in half amusement at our unconscious show of …well friendship I guess. I wonder if this meant we were sorta cool.

"Disciple, intern, student or protégé whatever you want to call it. He studied under me almost ten years ago; you were mostly in your infancy at the time. But he was vicious man-"

"And you weren't?" Iggy cut in again.

"Shut up Iggy," I rolled my eyes at him and gestured for Jeb to continue.

"More vicious then the norm then," Jeb added as an afterthought. "He was cruel to the experiments. While it would be…err…hypocritical to say I wasn't, at least I was doing it in the name of science. Of course back then I was still young and had no conscious of considering that experiments were real and with feelings. It was my instinct to look at experiments as an objective. But Edward wasn't like that. He loved to err…measure experiments for their capacity of pain. If I recall correctly, the man was desperate for a durable being to, err, carry out missions for him."

"But what does this have to do with us?"

"Well I assumed that was quite obvious Iggy. You five are the most successful experiments to have ever existed." Jeb said, amused.

"But we're not the only bird kids in existence Jeb. I saw a girl with wings trapped in the Institute once," I replied.**

"Ah yes, but surely you must have noticed Fang the changes since you escaped the school."

"Our evolving powers."

"Indeed. Not only were the five of you successful and completely mobile, your genes are such that can adapt or evolve to anything given the circumstances and the time. And of the five of you, Maximum Ride is the first and most durable. She has the…original genetically mutated cells. The rest of yours are a copy based on hers."

Iggy's face scrunched up. "Please tell me we weren't, umm, created from Max's cells…that would make us her…her children!" His eyes bulged out of his head. I shuddered and convulsed at that thought. I think a gagging noise may have escaped me…but I blamed it on Iggy.

"Heavens no! We merely copied her genetic code and instilled the same program in the four of you." Jeb gasped with equal shock and disgust. A sigh of relief was exerted from both Iggy and me. I grateful look passed between the two of us. Somehow despite all the crap he was still my blonde haired, blue eyed, bomb loving, ingenious cooking best friend. I got the feeling that Iggy was thinking something along the same lines. Being the immature bird boys we are, we cracked a sly grin at each other. Then we shook away the temporarily disgusting thoughts and moved on.

"As I was saying," Jeb rolled his eyes at the pair of us. "It is my belief that during the time that Edward and I were –experimenting—on the flock, he developed a sort of … sick infatuation with Maximum," Jeb quickly put up a finger preventing us from cutting in with marks of disgust. "I mean that he craved her for himself in a purely platonic way. He craved to make more human-avian hybrids like Max and use them as his personal military arsenal. I think he means to …breed Maximum Ride."

Ripples of sick convulsion passed between Iggy and I. I felt bile rise to my throat at the thought of my Max going through such horror. Suddenly I felt murderous. Pure hatred flowed through my veins at the thought of Max, my Max being used as a breeding pig like an animal or live stock. I wanted to punch a wall, no, better yet, I wanted to punch Jeb for uttering such crap at us.

"That's repulsive…oh god that is so sick. He's gonna turn Max into baby making machine!" Iggy nearly yelled he seemed to be hyperventilating in sort of bird kid panic. I clamped my hand over his mouth and hissed at him.

"Don't. They'll hear you." I glowered warningly at Iggy. He nodded his head and I released him. I glared daggers at Jeb and hoped they pierced his cold stone heart. "We are not letting him touch her!" I enunciated every word. Jeb, who had only slightly cringed (he was used to being glared at by Max but I suppose it was my first time displaying such outward fury), nodded in agreement before I even finished.

"Yes your right, it's too dangerous for both Max and the rest of the world. But mostly because…well it's just too inhumane," Jeb spat in disgust. Then his face transformed into a cool and calculating demeanor. "I'm afraid you can't deal with this man the way you have dealt in the past. You must deal with him immediately. Edward Clarke must not be allowed to get his hands on _any_ of you, most of all Max." Jeb warned in an almost threatening, over-protecting father-like tone as he pushed the horn-rimmed black frames high on the bridge of his nose.

"But you still didn't answer one question. Why did he choose to attack now?" Iggy asked in confusion. Jeb, suddenly amused, looked between the two of us.

"I believe he did once before. I suppose it was a stroke of luck his plans were delayed." Jeb's eyes landed on me as he spoke. I gulped…Lissa. Lissa's, err, attack was meant to attack at the heart of the flock, the trust between the five us. And it was no secret that Max's greatest strength was in her flock. Separate Max from the Flock, and leave the flock untrusting and distasteful of each other and we were worms for the picking. But they underestimated Max's feelings. They underestimated how devastated she would be from my betrayal. It was never a part of their calculations for Max to disappear. The irony was so incredibly stupid I wanted to laugh; a stroke of luck indeed.

A similar look of understanding dawned upon Iggy and he threw me sympathetic eyes. It seems that my _fling_ with Lissa finally made sense to him. Iggy went into a more professional mode. "Well, we obviously can't sit around and wait for an attack. How do we find him?"

"I'm afraid that's the easy part." Jeb stared at his feet in shame. I stared at the old man incredulously and let the unasked question hang in the air. "Clarke is collecting the best genetic scientists in the world. I'm afraid one of them is an associate of ours. I've been tracking her since she was taken against her will."

I froze. Iggy froze. The world froze. Our thoughts went back to the same chocolate chip cookie making mother. Please don't it let be. Not again. "Who is it Jeb?" I asked slow and coldly, my voice remaining monotonous.

"Mrs. Bridget Dwyer…" A loud crash had the three of us springing to our feet we all stared in the direction of the crash. We didn't have time to revel in the relief that it wasn't Mrs. Martinez because we saw Nudge and Max standing side by side, their faces red with tears, and eyes wide and unblinking with fear. They heard. They heard everything. A panicky sob escaped Max's lips. She shook her head back and forth.

"No…no…no, this is all my fault." She muttered in disbelief. Max wrapped her arms around her torso and began gently rocking into her tears repeating he words like a mantra. I didn't waste any time pulling her into my arms and letting her sob against my chest. "This is all my fault." She cried against me.

"No." I replied slow and steadily. "No Max. You couldn't have known." I murmured and held her close, stroking her soft locks of golden blond hair. Iggy and Nudge stared at Max with sympathy. Nudge leaned over to whisper into Iggy's ear.

"Is what Jeb said true…he wants to…use Max?" She whispered in almost disbelief. Iggy nodded his head slow and reluctant. Shivers of repulse racked through Nudge's body and she seemed disoriented with shock. Iggy quickly steadied her, and kept a comforting arm around her waist. I shot Iggy a grateful look which he replicated back to me.

I pulled Max out of my arms and brushed the tears out of her eyes. She stared back at me with her eyes milky with tears; I waited till her eyes focused and her sobs subsided. In that moment, Max looked so vulnerable, so full of raw emotion and grief. Her emotions seemed all the more stronger since it wasn't for herself that she was crying but for beloved sister figure with whom she lived with for almost six months. I wasn't stupid. I knew Max loved Bridget like she was her own flesh and blood sister. Somewhere along the six months of her disappearance, the two women had formed an inexplicable bond. And now Max was blaming herself for her sister figure's predicament.

"I'm so sorry Max. I'm sorry for what you had to go through and what you might have heard. But we _will_ get Bridget back and we _will_ take care of this Edward Clarke. He won't be able to lay a hand on you," I finished with a strong determination. I felt a sort of surge of adrenaline as my words became so powerful in my own mind. I made a promise to Max and I was going to do it or die trying. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized I made my longest monologue yet and thanked the gods that Angel was still out hunting for Gazzy and wasn't here to tease me for it.

"Let me come with you!" She begged latching onto my arms and pleading with her glassy chocolate colored eyes. I shook my head. "Please Fang."

"It's you that Clarke wants. You'd walk into a trap." My voice was surprisingly even as a replied to her. She didn't look convinced; Max opened her mouth to protest again. But I wouldn't let her. I quickly stole her lips. She pushed against me at first, but I wouldn't break contact. Slowly she melted into the kiss and allowed the movements of our lips to move together softly. God I wanted more of her, but I realized I had a bit of a crowd. I swiftly pulled and steadied the unbalanced Max.

"I'm sorry Max, but the way you are now, you'd be useless in a fight. Stay with Angel and Gazzy." I said in such a way that left no room for arguments. Somewhere in the background I heard the opening and slamming of a door followed by bickering from two siblings. I looked at Iggy who was politely or intently staring in the opposite direction.

"Iggy, let Angel and Gazzy know what's going on. Nudge we're going to need you to handle Jeb's tracking contraption and get us inside their facility. The three of us are riding out in an hour." I say sharply and received a quick nod of reply before Nudge and Iggy scampered off in opposite directions. I turned to Max.

"Watch over Angel and Gazzy. Go talk to Jeb; he's yo-"

"My Father, yes, Angel told me everything." She nodded, staring intently over my shoulder at the aged man still nervously sitting on the couch. I saw a tiny flare of anger in Max's eyes. I wondered if she was mad because he abandoned us, or because of what happened to Ari. I wouldn't ask; I wouldn't pry.

I pulled Max into a quick hug one more time, just feeling the need to be close her again. I needed Max; I need her in my arms right now. This mission was sending horrible vibes up my back. I couldn't shake the horrible feeling that this would be the last time I saw her. I couldn't shake the horrible nagging feeling that this would be the last time I would hold her in my arms like this. Flickers of Angel's visions drew back into my memory. I felt Max's body sink against me as though she felt a similar desperation. Why did it seem like when she was finally mine…I would lose her again? It was painful, but I was able to let go of Max.

She squeezed my hand tightly and whispered: _"Come back to me, Fang,"_

**Oh snap! Oh no I didn't! I just brought back both Jeb and Bridget back into the picture of this story. I have to admit a lot of this was NOT planned from the beginning. The primary point of this story was for Max to willingly give up memories and Iggy and Fang both fighting for her love the second time around. Somehow it evolved from so much since then. Bridget was just a place holder character, and Lissa was supposed to be minor hindrance. Haha, this story was supposed to be an AU romance but I guess it went back to cannon huh?**

**I personally like it so much better with this action/romance/suspense sort of thing. Whatdya guys think? I know the majority of my readers began reading this for the romance, drama, and humor, but I've taken quite a turn from all that haven't I?**

**Comments and Votes please!**

**I genuinely want to know what you think about this story. Please do say so!**

**P.S. I took a stab at Jeb's personality. Hopefully it was convincing enough. **


	18. The Forgotten Experiment

**Ugh, again, super apologies for the ridiculously late updates. My only compensation is that I will WITHOUT A DOUBT finish this story! But on the plus side, the chapters from here out will be of the same monstrous size! Three more chapters to go! Warning: Violence!**

Chapter 17: The Forgotten Experiment

Max POV

When Fang tore away from me, I honestly felt like he was taking a part of me with him. It felt like the missing hole in my heart had been filled, only to be torn apart again. I threw myself at Nudge and Iggy in a fierce embrace and begged for them to come back safely. Iggy, my best friend, smiled at me a soft solemn, almost heartbreaking smile. It was a smile of resolution. I knew in that moment that he accepted what Fang and I are. I kissed his cheek softly to thank him.

Next I made Nudge promise me she would be careful and held her tightly in my arms. I think I tried to comfort her, but in the end it was Nudge comforting me. She was so strong and beautiful; I couldn't be more proud of her. Nudge was growing to be a fine strong woman, and a wonderful sister. She smiled brilliantly and then the three of them took off into a soundless flight.

"Max," His gruff fatherly voice let a wave of nostalgia wash over me. It was ridiculous of course since I had no recollection of the man named Jeb Batchelder. But there he stood in front me, salt and pepper hair, high cheek bones, and sunken blue eyes. I saw my features in him. We had the same slender nose, angled chin, and peachy tan colored skin. "It's good to see you,"

"Hello Jeb," I whispered and let Jeb squeeze my shoulder. Suddenly Jeb's legs gave out and he stumbled into my arms. I caught him and settled him into the couch. "Angel can you go get Jeb some water?"

"You okay old man?" Gazzy looked concerned. The blonde haired boy still had a slight fondness for the old man. According to Angel, it seemed Gazzy had a special bond with Jeb. While most of the flock was scared for their lives when Gazzy and Iggy took up their interest in bombs, Jeb supported them and aided them in the two years we lived happily in the E-shaped house. Gazzy took Jeb's betrayal in stride. He forgave him. I wondered if I would feel the same if I still had my memories.

Jeb looked exhausted. "I'm fine Gasman. Maximum…how are you?" His ancient eyes turned to me. I shrank in my seat, only a little before Angel trotted back in with a glass of water and smiled at me reassuringly.

"I'm okay….Angel tells me you're my real father." I whisper.

"Yes,"

"Tell me…if I still had my memories, how would I treat you right now?" Jeb crooked an eyebrow and tried to conceal his mirth.

"Well you'd probably be yelling for me to get out," He laughed, I chuckled along with him.

"Then I supposed I really changed."

"Perhaps, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. You're more level headed now from what I perceived. I believe Angel here has mostly been filing you in about your past?" Jeb asked.

"Yes…sometimes with stories and sometimes with visions. Some of the memories came back to me on their own, but were bits and fragments. They were hardly enough to create a memory." I shook my head, giggling at some of the strange things I remembered. I remembered Iggy's sexist jokes, Nudge's motor mouth rambles, Fang's emo behavior and sneak attacks; I remembered being snarky and snappy at every adult that dared to prey on my flock. I remembered how easily I distrusted others.

It seemed my natural fighting instinct was there all along. I was good but not as good as I used to be. While Fang and Angel trained me, sometimes I let go and was completely unaware of how I was fighting until it was over, other times I tried to think too logically and ended up throwing slow punches. It would be a while again before I found that balance of thinking and fighting at the same time. Fang warned me that fighting with pure animal instinct was the worst way for our kind to fight.

"Bridget Dwyer has access to some of the best equipment in the world," Jeb chuckled and shook his head as though he found something ironic. "That you can remember anything at all is amazing." I blinked in surprise.

"Yeah…I guess it is." I coughed awkwardly. Jeb and I met eyes for a moment and then quickly looked away. I pretended to be interested in the carpet. It dawned on me then that Jeb was another prominent figure in my childhood. He could tell me about the times that Angel was too young to remember. Well…there was only one answer I really needed from my childhood. "Jeb…can you tell me about...my childhood?"

I bit my lip, embarrassed for dodging the real question. Jeb looked taken aback, but pushed his glasses back and settled into a soft smile. "Well…I suppose I could tell you about living in the E-shape house." Jeb said slow and thoughtfully, like his mind was far away, living in another time and in another world. A simpler time probably. Before the betrayal if I had to guess.

"The day usually started with Iggy dragging you and Fang out of bed. The boy was always an early riser while you and Fang….were not. Iggy was pretty creative about getting you two out of bed. I think he once dumped a bucket of water." Jeb chuckled to himself. I blushed in embarrassment and hoped he didn't have too many more embarrassing memories.

"Then came breakfast, Iggy was still new to cooking at this point, he was mostly testing the waters and experimenting. Breakfast either ended with bloated bellies or a line in front the bathroom," Jeb paused more thoughtfully now. "I taught the five of you everything I knew about survival. I taught you, Maximum, how to fight, how to survive. All of you brilliant at it of course, but you, Maximum, you were a natural. Fighting was second in nature to breathing, you were cunning and unpredictable. It made you a de-"

Jeb suddenly caught off, turning red in the face. I imagine Jeb stopped talking when my body began to shake. I've had months to get used to the fact that I used to be a fighter; that I've taken lives before. It wasn't until Jeb put it in such an indifferent manner that I realized how real my past life was. I felt sick, and green in the face. I was thankful that Jeb stopped talking. He cleared his throat and awkwardly stared at anything but me.

"Jeb," Angel sweetly called our ex-father. "I don't think Maxie here really wants to know about our past. What she meant to ask was: 'How did Fang and I end up together?'" She said in her best imitation of my face. Jeb and I turned an identical shade of red. It seemed our discomfort of emotional topics was mutual. Gazzy on the other hand scowled.

"No, no, no. You're doing it all wrong! You made Max sound like a dude! She might have sounded like that a year ago but now she's all….soft and girlish!" The Gasman made a face. My jaw dropped.

"Are you saying I used to have a masculine voice?" I ask in horror as my hands flew to my slender throat. Gazzy frowned.

"THAT!" Angel exclaimed, her voice rising above the two of us. "Is completely irr-irelv- ugh, that's completely besides that point!" We quickly shut our mouths and turned to Jeb expectantly.

"Why do you want to know?" The question threw me into a loop.

"W-what?"

"Why do you want to know Maximum?"

"I-I…" I was speechless. Why did I want to know? I never really thought about it. I thought about my feelings for Fang. I lo- liked him a lot, that was for sure. The feeling was wild and exhilarating, but there was also sadness and discomfort in my feelings. And there was a WHOLE lot of pride. But that wasn't me; that was the old Max. I no longer felt all prideful around Fang…I just…want to be with him.

So much about my feelings for Fang were mixing with the old and new me. The old me loved and hated and feared and ached for Fang. The new me just….loved him. It was as simple as that. I loved Fang, unconditionally; it was him and only him anymore. Maybe…knowing about the past was no good. I want my feelings for Fang to remain the way they are, pure, unconditional, and unselfish. Would knowing about the past change all that?

"You are smart Maximum Ride; I can see you are already processing this all through." Jeb's sharp voice broke through my thoughts. "Let go of the past, move on to the future. You are not done yet Maximum and you never will be. As long as you continuing living in a past you chose to let go…you will never become _The Maximum Ride."_ I stared at Jeb with blank unseeing eyes and slowly –but surely enough – his words sunk in. I smiled hesitantly at the man I was supposed to call a father. Despite Jeb's mistakes, there was one thing he never failed in, and that was being a caretaker to the flock. He was always guiding us, even when it didn't seem like it. Jeb had only ever thought of us.

A part of Jeb was still living in the past as well. My father had never truly forgiven himself. While some of his mistakes had been unforgiveable, he _had_ tried redeem himself. Jeb deserved to be released from the mistakes of his past just as much as I did. I reached over to grab Jeb Batchelder's calloused, sinewy hand.

"Tell me about Ari."

# # # # #

Iggy POV

A kiss on the cheek, a frikken kiss on the cheek. If my eyes hadn't already been tearing from the sting of the wind blasting face as Nudge and I were forced to keep with Fang's inhumane pace, they could easily be mistaken for real tears. Maybe they were real and I was just in denial. Either way I was starting to feel real pathetic.

I knew this love was hopelessly one-sided to begin with. As Nudge once put it "Max and Fang need each other like they need the air to breath." She was right. Even without her memories, some part of Max recognized she was still in love with Fang, and fell for him again. I couldn't blame Fang for a damn thing either. He'd been setup with the whole Lissa shite, and the idiot-emo had even tried to distance himself to give Max and me a chance. Damn him for thinking I didn't notice. I feel even guiltier that I'd been happy about it.

God what the hell was I thinking about? We're about to go face a certain doom and my thoughts are all revolving around Max.

"Hey…I'm really sorry Iggy," Nudge whispered, she had flown closer so that our wing tip's nearly touched. I painstakingly turned to face her, to see her flushed face, and sympathetic dark chocolate eyes. She was flying so _close._ I never noticed how different she looked. She no longer had crazy frizzed hair; it was silky straight and long past her shoulders. Her face had lost its baby roundishness and her lips had grown full and plump. Her body…I blushed at the direction my thoughts had turned.

"What for?" I asked her, almost childishly.

"For it not working out with Max. I mean… I like you Iggy but I want you to be happy. If Max made you happy, I'd want you to be with her." She replied, an easy smile on her face. My face heated up again. Why was she being so nice to me and why can she tell that I'm upset? I was pretty certain that I was as good as masking my emotions as Fang.

"Why would me being with Max make you happy?" I snorted sarcastically, desperately trying to hide my confusion. She scrutinized me for a moment and sighed.

"Because at least you'd be smiling." She replied almost grumpily. "I don't know if I ever told you this, but you look like a dried up prune when you pout,"

"Hey!"

"Hehe, I'm right and you know it!"

"Oh shut up Nudge!"

"Make me dumb blonde!" We laughed. I felt better all of sudden. God that Nudge, she provoked me into our usual banter. Nudge was smiling into the breeze, a chuckle still on her dimpled cheek. For the strangest reason, I felt the urge to reach over and poke her dimple.

"You've changed Nudge," I say without thinking. And she really has, it wasn't just the way she looked, but the way she talked, the way she carried herself. I couldn't even remember the last time Nudge rambled.

"Maybe cause I was trying to impress a certain thick headed blond," She bluntly replied and rolled her eyes. I felt another blush creeping up my neck.

"How do you know it's not just because you grew up with me?" I ask without thinking, and mentally slap myself for the completely irrelevant question that just decided to spontaneously burst from my mouth. Phew, long trains of thoughts, I need some serious help.

"You grew up with Max as well, you loved her didn't you?" She asked rhetorically. "Really Iggy, I thought you of all people would know. After all that time we spent bantering and bickering together, all those times you'd cleaned my wounds, or I'd guide you while you were still blind, you never thought I'd fall in love with you? I'm a fifteen year old girl, Iggy, I was bound to realize I felt more for than as a brother or a friend."

"I…I don't know what to say?"

"I never thought I'd live to see the day you were tongue tied," Nudge laughed boisterously. But then she smiled at me, soft and sweetly, her eyes filled with compassion. "You don't have to say anything. Thanks for listening," She blushed and without warning she shot forward to flying alongside Fang, leaving me to my thoughts.

"Stupid girls…" I muttered to myself, waiting for my heart rate to slow down.

"I heard that!" Nudge screamed. I cringed and tried to play nonchalant. I took one last moment to appreciate the gir- lady flying before me. There was something about Nudge that made me feel…lighter. I smiled and shook my thoughts clear of all women.

"Iggy, three o'clock sharp." Fang called.

"I see it," and just like that, my old maniacal grin returned. Fang, Nudge and I did a straight nose dive for the trees. We landed silently, and remained in our predatorily hunches until Fang gave us a signal. Two fingers spinning around, he wants us to circle the perimeter. I gave him a thumbs up and held up a five (meet back in five minutes). Nudge winked at the two of us and scurried off in one direction, and Fang and I split in the other two.

As usual, Fang and I took the inner perimeter. He went all Jessica Alba Fantastic Four style (invisibility, geez what rock do you live under?) and snuck to the edges of the Edward Clarke's House of Doom aka the last standing laboratory of human experimentation. I settled myself jumping from tree to tree searching for moving colors in the building. It took me longer than the rest of the flock to figure out my powers, but once I did, I found that I was EPIC! The best comparison for my abilities was a bit like an X-Ray/Heat Detector hybrid of some sort. I couldn't see through buildings per say, but I could see the people moving within them. I called the colors auras at first…but it felt a bit too supernatural even for a Sci-Fi geek like me, so I just call them colors.

I took a quick tally of the moving colors, and before I knew it our five minutes were up. I jumped out of my cover and made a silent sprint for our rendezvous (Fang carved a tree, probably a heart that said M +F). I shook my head, no more distractions Iggy!

Nudge was the first one back; she sat in the branches of a low hanging tree with her black converse boots kicked up. She grinned like a Cheshire cat and flicked a heavy metal panel in my direction.

"Hey!" I exclaimed barely managing to save my nose. "A little warning Nudge?" I say, exasperated. Nudge giggled uncontrollably…okay, so I should have caught the darn thing! "What?" Nudge pointed behind me.

Fang was not amused. In his right hand, he tightly gripped the metal panel. He had leaves sticking out from his ears and scattered in his hair, and yet he still managed a chilling death glare. "Report!" Fang barked, as brushed past me. I glared at Nudge, that devious little…she so planned this!

"So, I found this generator around back and followed the electrical lines. They all lead back to Clarke's lab. That piece you're holding Fang, is like my conductor. I could take out the power in the building and if, should the situation arise, we need power again, I use the conductor to power up SMALL appliances. Don't push me too much, I haven't exactly figured out how much pull I have over all this electricity stuff." Nudge answered, brisk and somewhat straight to the point. I think a part of me was relieved she hadn't given up on that cute –ahem- familiar rambling of hers. Fang considered the thought and gave her the okay. His eyes then turned to me.

"I scouted the place out." I informed him. "We've got less and less workers as the number of floors increase, and the majority of the experiments are locked in the basement. But those little Wyvern things were patrolling the first three floors. I'd say we head to the basement first and release as many experiments as we can. They'll serve as the perfect distractions. Those stupid Wyvern thingies can gobble up the truly dangerous ones. With the Wyvern's chasing the experiments, it should be a clear path to the top, and if need a little booster I've got stink bombs and knock out gas." I say, feeling rather accomplished. Fang didn't even blink at my plan. In fact he had an annoyingly scrutinizing face.

"What? Can you come up with something better?" I cry indignantly. Fang shook his head with a sigh. "So what did you accomplish Oh Great Silent One?" Fang shot me a dirty look.

"I took out all the guards around the perimeter, and these…" Fang pulled out a pair of ID cards "Should get us inside. I also snagged floor plans from a looser." That being said, Fang quickly rolled out the blue prints (it seemed there was construction going on in the lower floors) and we quickly devised a strategy.

"Great, Nudge cut the power." Fang smirked when the plan was drawn and tossed the conductor back. Nudge plucked the conductor out of the air with ease.

"With pleasure," Nudge smiled evilly and raced away with cheeks flushed in excitement. Fang snorted and I shot him a questioning look; he shook his head at me.

"What?" I asked.

"She's one of kind Iggy." Fang said, much to my surprise, with a rather gentle smile on his face. But then his face twisted into a much darker expression and the full force of Fangles glare seemed to smother me. "Break her heart and I'll break your face." He whispered in a soft, dark voice that I will promptly deny shaking in fear out of.

"R-right…." I stuttered. This was rather new too. Fang with emotions; it would take a while to get used to that one. Fang seemed to develop the same overprotective complex that Max had while she was the leader of the flock. I shudder to think what sort of pressure those two went through. Nudge reappeared a moment later and if she noticed that Fang and I kept a very wide berth between the two of us, she didn't comment on it.

"Let's go."

Nudge's power outage served the as the perfect distraction for us to slip in unnoticed. But for precautions sake, we held onto Fang and let him cloak us with invisibility. The workers in the lower floor were too busy scrambling around to notice Nudge powering up a single elevator that would lead us the basement. We slipped in like ninja's and slipped out like….squawking ducks.

"Uhhh! My head!" Nudge cried and the three of us tumbled out of the rickety elevator. I think I felt motion sickness and considering I can fly, that sure is saying something. "Never again!"

"Sorry Nudge, but we've still got to go up." I said as sympathetically as I could. Nudge groaned and leaned against Fang for support. Fang supported Nudge and awkwardly tried rubbing her back.

"You okay?" Fang asked her. Nudge paused for a moment and took a deep breath and flashed us a pearly white smile.

"Never better! Let's go!" She said enthusiastically. Nudge and I shared a grin, and Fang rolled his eyes at the pair of us. Our spirits were high as we snuck into the first experimentation chamber. The cheery atmosphere quickly disappeared when the smell of blood and decay overwhelmed our nostrils. I gagged and covered my nose. Nudge looked similarly disgusted; Fang was the only one who seemed unaffected – typical.

"W-what is this?" I gagged and protected my overly sensitive nose. There were rows upon cages, stacked on top of another. Some were occupied and many more were empty. There was one thing all the cages had in common, the unmistakable splatter of dry blood. The stains were impossible to remove on the steel. We walked with caution, our eyes reddening from the vile stench and tearing up from the memories of our own imprisonment.

The first cage we stumbled upon with a living experiment was…gruesome. It looked like a small girl of seven years old with ratty brown-blood soaked hair, flesh as pale as a drained fruit and parts of her body were covered in feathers. The most gruesome feature was the blood of course. Blood flowed from every open pore in her body, out of her eyes, her nose, her ears, and her mouth. It pooled beneath her but the girl didn't even flinch. She lay in her own blood and if it weren't for the tiny movements of her heaving chest, they would have walked right past her.

She wasn't the only one. They were mostly children, between the ages five and eleven. The experiments were in similar stages of bleeding. By all rights they should have been dead from that much blood loss – but they weren't. It wouldn't surprise me if the damn scientists were injecting them with some sort of adhesive to rapidly reproduce blood cells. They we were dying but unable to die. The lucky ones that were dead must have experienced a slow and painful death.

"H-how awful," Nudge tearlessly sobbed. Her finger wove themselves through mine; I squeezed her hand for comfort. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"No." Fang answered, shaking his head. "It would be a mercy to end their lives." He whispered, I noticed Fang's eyes tighten and a very visible tremble in his hands. Nudge noticed as well; she grabbed Fang's hand and gave him a comforting squeeze, just as I had for her. Though it killed us to do so, we left the experiments in their cages and marched towards the end of the rust smelling hall. The elevator that would lead closest to Clarke's room finally appeared, but Fang signaled for us to stop.

"What now?" I said, exasperated. Fang shot me a withering look and pointed to the strange looking door about fifty feet to the left of us. The door itself wasn't strange, save for the fact that it made out of some heavy metal shi-stuff, but the walls around it were covered in claw marks like scars on a wall. Damn, there must have been quite a battle for whatever beast existed in that hellhole…oh crap. "Please tell me you're not thinking about releasing whatever's in there!" I squeak in a _very_ manly manner. Fang smirked.

"We need a distraction." Fang the-emo-kid-with-a-death-wish-who-probably-wanted- us- and-by-us-I-mean-me-to-die-a-very-painful-death said coyly, phew, remind me that my naming sense sucked. Fang gave me a look, meaning "go pick the damn door already Iggy," yeah thanks Fang, nice to know you care about my well-being. Just send the blind kid to—oh, not blind, right.

"Stupid Fang," I grumbled under my breath and quickly made use of picking the lock. For a high tech laboratory, they sure had a pathetic security system, not even any of those retina scanners or electronic keypads. Clarke must have had his budget cut or something. I fiddled around with my hair pins (Nudge's, totally and completely borrowed) and miniature screw driver. The door opened with a soft _click. _ I gulped softly and pushed open the door that read experiment: 00097.

"Oh, quit being a baby Iggy!" Nudge cried and shoved me aside. Fang and I uncomfortably followed after her. The room was plain, white walls, no windows, no air vents. The only thing in the room was a machine, a chamber of some sort that resembled a coffin. It was wired up to a multitude of complex looking devices and tubes that probably only Nudge could figure out. Said bird kid wasted no time and scampered closer to chamber. She placed her conductor on the lid and began fiddling with the buttons.

"Nudge, are you sure you know what you're doing?" I can't help but ask skeptically. Nudge gave me a Fang-like look that looked awfully like she was telling me to shut up. Well sue me for being the cautious one! No less than in five seconds, the chamber hummed to life and the lid slowly retreated.

In the chamber laid a small boy, no more than ten years of age, with dirty blond hair and scarred body. The boy had eerily familiar features that bordered dog-like in nature. His fingernails were as sharp as claws, and his ears were that of a dog. But the rest of the boy was normal, unless you counted the gruesome scars that littered his body. It wasn't until the boy twitched and his eye fluttered open to reveal the small chocolate brown pupils that I realized why he looked so familiar.

"Ari…" I breathed in shock. Nudge gasped and took a step back; Fang remained impassive, no doubt having realized who he was long before me. Ari's small and rather delicate looking hands twitched, the boy painstakingly reached to remove his oxygen mask.

"Iggy…Nudge…Fang…" Ari gurgled, his voice hoarse and crackled as though his vocal chords had been damaged. Ari blinked at the three of us, a small boyish smile stretching across his cheeks. He lifted himself into a sitting position, ripping off tubes and wires as he went. "Never thought I'd see you again."

Fang snorted. "That's our line, munchkin."

"Damn….you just don't die, do you?" I say without thinking. Nudge gave me a very hard shove in the gut and threw her arms around Ari's small body.

"Don't listen to that jerk Ari, goodness am I so glad to see you. Wait till Max finds out, oh she'll be so happy! She was crushed when she thought you died in Germany. And when we buried you in the States….gosh I'd never seen her cry so much in my life. Speaking of which, if you don't mind me asking dear, how are you still alive?"

"Dear?" Ari mumbled, slightly disoriented and no doubt overwhelmed by Nudge's strong embrace. I cleared my throat and gently pried Nudge off the poor boy.

"Ari, what happened to you?" Fang asked bluntly. Ari only smiled weakly and jumped out of his little chambers. He wobbled unsteadily on his feet and toppled straight into my arms. I caught him (with skill!) and steadied him on his feet.

"Whoa, so this is what's like to be kid?" He said in awe, clenching and unclenching his fists. Ari examined his own body, testing out his weakened legs, and deteriorated arm muscles. "I'm so short!" The boy concluded.

"Not to echo Fang or anything, but Ari, what happened to you?" I asked.

"Mutation degeneration," he answered simply as though it explained everything. I think our raised eyes and cluelessness faces hinted that it didn't. "That's what this lab is for. They take mutants and turn them back human again."

"What!?" I exploded. Ari cringed and shot me a dirty look. "That's impossible. They'd have to completely redo our DNA or something. They can't do that!"

"Yeah, I know. You've seen the experiments in the cages right? That's what happens when you try to remove the mutation out of a mutant."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Shut up! I'm completely serious here!" Ari puffed up, red and flushed like a blowfish. Had the situation not been so dire, it might have actually been funny to see Ari's bloated indignant face.

"So why has it worked on you?" Fang cut into our bickering. And it was true, the degeneration thingie _had_ worked on Ari…sort of. When Ari had still been an Eraser, he'd been the size of a fully grown man, '_a flying refrigerator_' as Fang once put it, but now he was in the body of ten year old boy. His muscles were gone, all six-feet-two of him had shrunken to five feet, his face was no longer chiseled but rounded with baby fat, and most importantly…no wings.

Ari made funny face. "I wasn't born an experiment remember? My wings were sown on…all they had to do was remove the stiches."

"….So what you're saying is that your mutation wasn't programmed into your DNA but just forced into your body?" I say slowly. And they call us genetically enhanced mutants…I guess they left the brain untouched.

"Uhh I guess." Ari said distractedly. "So…I'm guessing you didn't come here to save me?" he asked hopefully.

"We thought you were dead." Fang said bluntly. You know, sometimes Fang's obliviousness to human emotions astounds me. "We're here to save Bridget, a friend of Max's. Do you know anything about Bridget Dywer?"

"Dr. Dywer? Yeah, I heard she's the one that came up with the mumbo jumbo that de-mutated me. She's probably being held in Mr. Clarke's office." Ari smiled at the mention of Bridget. "If you're going up there, which I'm sure you are, I hope you know how to kill those dragon thingies." Fang elbowed me sharply, and flashed a smug grin. I rolled my eyes at him. Nudge informed Ari of the one encounter Fang had with the Wyvern (Ari laughed for a good two minutes when we told him Fang came up with it) and how we were utterly defenseless against them.

"I'm not surprised." Ari said. "The Wyverns – snickers—have hard outer shell. Your punches, brutal as they are, have no effect on Wyverns. The only way to get around one is to kill it." Ari paused and let the idea settle in. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel sick. I'm no bloody saint, I've killed before and I knew that I'd probably continue killing in the future to keep surviving. But that didn't mean I liked doing it, even if we were killing oversized reptiles and not five year old Eraser's this time. It's probably the part of me that's part bird that allows me to sympathize for these creatures.

"How do you kill it?" Fang asks, the only one of the three of us to remain calm. Even Nudge had turned a bit green. Ari put a hand on his chin, the cliché 'I'm thinking' pose.

"Wyvern's have two hearts, you stop one and the other takes over, and I don't really know where a Wyvern's heart is. Stabbing it anywhere, arms, legs, heart, won't do it any harm. They're kind of like frogs; they've got incredible regenerative abilities. You could cut its leg off and it would grow back. I guess the only way to kill it is to cut its head off – separate the brain from the heart and you stop its insane regenerative abilities." Ari speculated thoughtfully. "Oh, but don't think it will be easily. Unlike Erasers or M-Geeks or whatever the H-E-double-hockey-sticks you've fought in the past, these guys are wicked smart. They learn as they fight."

I blinked dumbly; Nudge openly gaped at Ari and Fang…had a creepy face that I would rather not describe. I then smirked wickedly and ruffled Ari's mess of dirty blond hair. "You've got Jeb's brilliant ass mind Ari," I smiled. Ari blushed sheepishly.

Small and light as Ari was, it took both Fang and I to carry Ari out of his prison and hide him somewhere we could retrieve him later. Ari's legs were immobile and now that the only part of his mutation that remained were the claws he was useless in a fight. He protested of course but Nudge (scary determined that girl is sometimes) managed to convince Ari to stay put.

We did however manage to get one crucial piece of information from Ari before we ditched him, Clarke's men – nicknamed the dragon tamers, or Tamers for short – used special weapon to keep the Wyvern's in check. They used a rather brute weapon that resembled a spear or staff with a butcher's blade as a head. Nudge quickly deduced the mechanics of the brute weapon—the staff end was a Taser to paralyze the Wyverns, and butchering knife to err…well you know. I couldn't bring myself to get near the weapon.

Fang rather painstakingly took it up, whispering under his breath something along the lines of "It's for Max," at which I had to frown. Ever since Fang got shot (was it once or twice now?) he'd taken a strong disliking towards weapon. The closest he'd come to wielding one since was a baseball bat to beat the crap out of Erasers when we went after Max, Nudge and Angel in Germany. I knew this was a big deal for Fang…that after today, Fang would never be the same again. Such was the love that Fang had for Max…I never stood a chance.

Ready or not, Fang, Nudge and I entered the elevator that went directly to Clarke's office. We braced ourselves for what might literally be a life changing battle with the danger and methods for survival being higher than ever before…we quite literally stepped into hell.

We were greeted by the sight of Dr. Bridget Dwyer tied to a chair, an open wound dripping blood down her forehead. She was unconscious.

**I think I need to change the rating of this story…I'm sorry guys but there will be quite a bit of violence from here on. **

**I didn't mean for the method to kill Wyvern's to be so crude or brutal. If you guys think it's too much PLEASE review/comment and let me know right away! I will change the content so that it is a bit more PG 13!**

**So this chapter mostly focused on Nudge/Iggy and Max finally letting go of her past. But in the end…can she make it without her memories?**

**Three more chapters to go!**

**Review, review, review!**

** Kiki1770**


	19. The Beast Within

**A/N: Hehe, once again I have made you all wait a ridiculous amount of time for this update. I apologize, this year has just been crazy. But this story is almost reaching it's end. There are two more chapters and a prologue after this!**

**Warning: Extreme language, violence, and mental trauma. Please do not read this chapter if any of these offend you. I have still written with the restriction of T but please be aware.**

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Chapter 18: The Beast Within

Fang POV

'_Click' _the unmistakable sound of cocked gun had Iggy, Nudge and I frozen where we stood. A vile chuckle of purely malicious intent echoed around the stainless steel penthouse sized office of the one, notorious, infamous Edward Clarke. Note the sarcasm and don't judge, it's an involuntary copping mechanism and habit that I got from Max.

"Well my fine feathered friends…" Edward hissed softly as the blonde haired man with steely grey-blue eyes finally made himself apparent. "When the power went out I suspected we had pest in the building. Though I must say, I'm rather pleased that saved me the trouble of finding you myself." Clarke mused, and spoke with a heavy English accent that stressed on the vowels.

The three of us remained impassive as Clarke pompously sauntered around his office in a deliberately slow and showy gait. He took out a neat handkerchief and began polishing his small black pistol with a look of admiration in his eyes. Something in his words then clicked for me.

"You had no idea of our whereabouts?" I say through gritted teeth. Clarke didn't bother looking away from his shiny gun; instead he casually stuffed his handkerchief in his pocket and raised the pistol in our directions. He closed one eye, the other trained on us like predator stalking prey, and he grinned mischievously as his finger itched towards the trigger.

"Pshew!" Edward exclaimed, jerking the gun in mock firing. "Not one iota, you've saved me the trouble of finding you myself." he continued pretending to fire at our heads, providing his own sound effects and commentary. He giggled perversely at his past time and pulled out his handkerchief once more. I curled my hands into fists.

"Let Bridget Dwyer go." I demanded slowly and as patiently as my temper allows. I hadn't been in this guy's presence for more than a minute and he already managed to piss me off. Clarke seemed to have twisted talent for knowing how to push one's buttons.

"I'm afraid I cannot. This little birdie here-" Clarke circled around Bridget as he spoke, stroking her vivacious red hair. "is going to turn my little Maximum Ride into a breeding wh—" I growled and made a lunge for Clarke. Nudge and Iggy both struggled to hold me back.

"Calm down Fang!" Nudge hissed. "He's got a gun, he could hurt Bridget. Give me five minutes; I think I can disable his gun."

"Without touching it? You're really pushing your limits Nudge." Iggy whispered in a rush.

"Just shut up and keep him entertained." Nudge responded snappily. Having no choice but to take Nudge's word, I willed myself to calm down a glared furiously at Edward Clarke. The nefarious man sported a wicked, amused grin; he twirled the gun in his hand as though it were toy.

"I'm sorry, did I pull a feather?" Clarke guffawed at his own joke. I scrunched my nose in disgust. Leave it to us to get stuck with the wierdos. In Clarke's mad laughter, he'd unwittingly woken up Bridget. She blinked blearily, took one look at us, and dropped her jaw.

"Fang…" She whispered disbelievingly.

"Oh you know each other! How delightful!" Clarke clapped his hands. "Saves me the pain of an introduction. Introductions are so dreadfully boring, aren't they? My idea of an ideal greeting…is gun to the head and BAM!" He had the gun pressed to Bridget's cheek, and yanked her head back by the hair. Bridget's brow was covered in sweat, and her eyes became bloodshot with terror.

"Is the dude even speaking in English?" Iggy asked obnoxiously. I raised an eyebrow at him. The hell, was that idiot asking for a death wish? Iggy nudged me in Nudge's (haha, punny) direction, and my jaw dropped to form an "ohh!" kinda look. Iggy rolled his eyes and made a face that said: Play along, idiot!

"Give him some credit Iggy. He's doing rather well for a talking refrigerator." I smirked coyly. Edward gapped rather comically.

"A refrigerator? I beg your pardon young lad, but you _must_ be out of your mind." He responds in faux contempt. "Even your little bird brain can't mix up this _handsome_ face for a…_refrigerator._" He finished with disgust.

"Dude! We're in America right now! No one knows what you're saying!" Iggy exploded. Hmm, note-to-self: Iggy can't stand British accents.

"Shut up you buck-bill, you stupid American's would be nothing without us." Clarke snapped. I was starting to get irritated with this small talk, and I could see the Bridget was just as agitated in her bindings, but we had to keep talking until Nudge gave us the clear.

"First, you're bird jokes suck. My seven year old can do better than that. Second, this isn't the 1780's, get off your frikken high horse!" I snapped impatiently. My comment seemed to have done it. Edward's eyes flashed dangerously, and he sharply pressed the gun to Bridget's head.

"Enough of this foolish talk, I will end her life right now, and you're foolish little Maximum will become my bit-"

"You finish that and I kill you!" I snarled at him. Edward's lips twisted up into a wicked grin, and he pulled the safety off the gun. It made an audible click. Bridget began trembling in her seat. A sudden chill swept the room and I suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation. That frikken mental piece had a _gun_ to Bridget's head. We were strong yes, but even we are defenseless against bullets, much less bullets straight to the noggin. Edward seemed to see the change in my stance, and he knew that I was taking him seriously now. My attention briefly, and might I add discretely, flickered to Nudge. She held five fingers out against her thigh. Five minutes…Edward didn't seem to notice the exchange.

The door behind us opened with a loud crack. At first all I saw was a whole LOT of skin, and skimpy clothes barely er…covering up. She had red hair, lots of it, and face that looked like it was smeared with paint. Her sultry lips curved into snarky smile and her eyes rolled over me, ravenously. I felt shivers run down my back.

"Lissa…" I hissed, not so politely. She pouted, making big green eyes at me.

"Oh Fang darling, is that any way to treat your old gi_rrr_l friend?" She practically purred. Oh right, part cat. Lissa made a clawing gesture as she spoke and I noticed her claws painted blood red. I scrunched my face in disgust, Iggy made gagging noises next to me.

"I'd call you a bitch but then I'd be insulting dogs everywhere," Iggy snapped at her. I stifled a snicker. This is a SERIOUS situation Fang, get it together! Lissa narrowed her eyes at Iggy.

"It's good to _see_ you too Piggy," She snapped.

"Oh hell no! You did not just call me that you two-bit skank!" Iggy growled and lunged at Lissa. I acted quickly, roughly shoving Iggy back.

"Calm down," I hissed and gestured to Clarke who was still holding the gun to Bridget's head. But Clarke wasn't even paying attention to Lissa, if anything he looked irritated that she showed up here. I could see the similarities between Lissa and Clarke, they had the same predatory glint in their eyes, and as dumb as Lissa was, she seemed to figure out that Iggy and I had our hands tied at the moment. So with gritted teeth, I let her approach me.

"Oh Fang," She said sugary-sweet like, batting her eyelashes. "I missed you babe." She purred and ran her claws down my chest, stretching the fabric of my t-shirt thin under her nails. The fnick—she's trying to tear my shirt! I glared at her as menacingly as I could….and she laughed at me!

"Oh Fangie, don't look at me like that, I know you missed me too!"She cooed all childlike in a tone that made me want to bang my head against the nearest wall.

"Remove your hands, or I'll remove them for you." I told her coldly. Lissa flinched for a moment, but it was quickly disguised. Instead, she moved closer and closer until I could practically feel her disgusting breath on my face.

"Don't tease Fangie, you'll hurt my feelings." She says in that stupid baby voice again. Iggy made retching noises beside me, and –thank god—broke the fnicking moment between me and Lissa. Lissa glared at Iggy in disgust. She looked like she was about to whip up a storm. Thankfully, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Clarke decided to interject his pompous-ass voice into the conversation.

"What _are _you doing away from your position, experiment 00852?" Clarke snapped irritably at Lissa. He surprisingly looked as disgusted with Lissa as Iggy and I did. Wasn't he supposed to be her father or something?

Lissa pouted. "But Fang's here Daddy! I didn't want to miss out on the op-perr-tunity," She purred and licked her lips wetly, her claws wove around my waist and dug into my jeans. Her other hand was under my chin, forcing me to look into her disgusting glinted green eyes. I glared at her as hard as I could. Stupid bimbo didn't seem to be getting the message though. Clarke sighed irritably at Lissa's actions.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" His voice low and deadly.

"But Daddy—"

"Oh do shut up! I have more important matters to deal with than your filthy skin ruining my project." Clarke hissed at her.

"Uhhh…I'm not sure what's going on but…I'm with him. Get your skanky ass outta here!" Iggy jutted in.

"Shut up Iggy!" Multiple voices told him. Iggy pouted but didn't seem affected. I sometimes worry about the nerve of that kid. I glanced at Nudge and shot her a desperate, pleading look. If Lissa dug into my jeans any harder….I might need to replace my boxers…after I burn them first. Nudge shook her head, she wasn't ready yet.

"Daddy you said I could have Fangie!"

"No, I told you that if you bring me Maximum, I would _spare_ his life!" Clarke snapped. Lissa's fingers dug into my pants.

"Oh my god! Again with Maximum Maximum Maximum! What is so special about her anyway?" Lissa whined in screechy high pitched.

"Maximum Ride is greatest scientific breakthrough of the twenty-first century! Surely even a simple-minded failure like _you_ can understand that," He sneered at her. Lissa's hands tightened around me again and I finally snapped.

"Stop raping me!" I shouted and pushed her away sharply. Lissa gave me a half-pouty look, her attention half divided between me and her deranged father.

"Finally! I thought you were enjoying this or something Fangles." Iggy tsked disapprovingly.

"Shut up Iggy."

"Why does everyone keep telling me to shut up?" Iggy whined, with a wink. It was stupid way to stall, but one look at Nudge and we could both see that she was still in deep concentration.

"Cuz you're annoying!" I replied, playing along.

"I'll give you annoying!" Iggy shouted and made to charge at me.

"Enough!" Clarke roared over the two of us. Iggy and I froze, and Lissa –who was trying to get closer to me—stopped moving as well. I noticed a flash of movement from Nudge, she had put three fingers down already.

"You fledglings will one day appreciate the world that I am about to create. With Max's original avian-human hybrid DNA strand and my superior blue blood, we will create the greatest generation of superhumans to walk upon this earth. I will bring this world to its knees, and have it begging at my feet for their place in the world I'm about to create." Nudge put down another finger. I edged forward without realizing it. The stupid Brit was too caught up in his little speech to notice how close Iggy and I had gotten, Lissa was too busy scowling at Clarke praising Max in his own twisted way.

"I'll start with this one right here…" He continued his blackened eyes turned to Bridget's, who had been all but forgotten in our little squabbles. "You overestimate yourself dearie. There are plenty of geneticists of your caliber where I come from. No…I'm afraid your only purpose was draw out these precious ducklings." Edward's fingers hovered over the trigger, and Bridget's breathing came out in breathless gasps. There was some panic in her eye, but I felt there was something more. Her eyes weren't at all directed on Clarke, they were on us, screaming her apologizes. Oh Bridget…Nudge closed her fist.

The blonde haired man whirled his gun in my direction and pulled the trigger, once, twice, and a third time. It never fired.

"Now!" I shouted and shot forward towards the red headed bitc—I mean witch. I had Lissa pinned to a wall in two seconds flat. Her hand smacked the plaster with a resounding thud and her eyes nearly rolled back. I vaguely heard Iggy tackling Clarke and Nudge rushing to Bridget's side. But my focus was on Lissa.

"I ought to kill for that little stunt" I snarled.

She trembled under my strength. "I know you can't do it Fang….you love me too much." She whispered coolly, her eyes confident despite her tremor. Then I saw it; for a split second, her pupils narrowed into slits like snake eyes and then dilated back. I felt like I had screw driven through my head. Well, fnick, she's trying control me again!

"Nice try, but it won't work again." I smirked and lied coolly. Lissa glared and her eyes narrowed again, the pounding in my head was now hammering up, but I pushed her out. Lissa's eyes widened and I saw the pure animalistic panic in them.

"I-it's not fair." Lissa chocked. Steady tears rolled down her face as the hopelessness of her situation finally seemed to hit her. For some reason, I froze. I realized that perhaps for the first time, I was seeing how vulnerable and messed up Lissa really was. Somehow, I got the feeling she had it as bad as we did, if not worse. From a far I saw Lissa's disgustingly perfect and mechanic features, but now like this, I could see the lines of surgery done on her face over and over, and the scars that looked like thin intentional knife wounds—torture no doubt.

She suffered a lot.

"I should be the one with, y-you were supposed to love me! Not that b-bitch Maximum! She was supposed to rot in a f**king breeding house like the f**king whore she is!"

But then again, so did we. The only difference was that our minds weren't twisted. I leaned in close, so close that her disgusting breath was on my face. I didn't even want imagine the expression on my face right now.

"Max isn't the whore. You are." I drew my fist back and punched her heard. Her nose snapped with a sickening crunch and her eyes rolled behind the lids. Lissa never stood a chance. She was out like a fnicking light bulb.

For once, I felt no sympathy. I felt nothing but regret for allowing such a spineless girl to so inexorably ruin our lives. It was almost pitiable. Lissa was so defenseless and stupid yet she somehow managed to worm her way in, control my life, break Max's heart, cause Max to lose her memories, and drive a wedge between my family. Some superhumans we were.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunshots, followed by a howl of pain.

"Iggy!" Several voices shouted. I charged in the direction of his scream. Iggy was collapsed on the ground, blood pooling under the hand clutching his forearm. I rushed to his side and grabbed his arm.

"Ugh, Fang. Forget me, Bridget is…" Iggy gasped through the pain. I cursed and searched for Bridget. I found Clarke fumbling his gun as Nudge stood directly in front of him using all her power to prevent anymore bullets from going through. There were tears of blood rolling down Nudge's face and I realized she'd finally reached her limit. If she used her powers anymore…she would die.

I think something in me finally snapped at that moment. All the anger, all the anxiety, all the sadness and worst of all, all the fear I'd been trying so hard to control finally came bursting up all at once. I saw red and black.

I left all sense of rationale behind and charged at Clarke, roaring thunderously in a voice that I hardly recognized as my own. My fists connected with his collar, and instead of punching his like I intended to, my feet kept moving under me and I was pushing Clarke back. I had charged so quickly that Clarke hadn't been able to react in time. I grabbed him by the collar and rammed him into the thick glass windows like semi crashing on a freeway.

The glass shattered under the force. Clarke coughed up blood as we both spiraled out the window from the twenty-fifth floor of the building. The wind rushed to meet us, cutting into our flesh like thousands of tiny whips. Over the roar of the wind, I heard Clarke's blood curling screams of fear and watched him flay around in the air like a fish that leapt out of the water. I smirked and dove forward to catch him by the collar.

"Save me! I SAID SAVE ME DAMNIT!" The blonde haired man screamed desperately, clinging to my arms like a leech. I grunted when his fingers dug into my shoulders but somehow managed to get a grip on him. I opened wings and we were both sharply jerked upward and then into a gentle glide. "huh—I knew—huh—that you were the more—huh—reasonable one." Clarke panted.

I didn't respond, I kept flying, higher and higher and higher.

"What-what are you doing? Bring me down! Bring me down this instant you feathered mongrel!" He screamed in my ear. "Do you not hear me? I said, **BRING ME DOWN!**"

But I didn't. I knew what I had to do. And I knew that once I did this, there was no going back. When we were finally high enough, I wrenched Clarke off me and held him by the cuff.

"No! Stop! Don't let go you fool!"

"Shut up!" I finally snapped. Clarke stopped struggling and went limp in my arms. His face remained expressionless and prideful as always but the way he was sweating beads told me otherwise.

I was the cause of the fear in Clarke's eyes. I was the cause of that look of absolute terror, and it terrified me. I realized then that anger was like a poison. Once you succumbed to your primal base emotions you truly become a heartless demon like the man I held in my hands. I wonder if this is how Max always felt. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to let this man die in cold blood. I wanted him to pay for the pain he put all those experiments through, the torture that Ari faced, the lives he took, and lastly for dragging Max back into a world that she fought so hard to free us from.

I could only imagine how many times Max was in a situation like mine where the most rational decision would be to kill the man threatening us. It was the most rational, but it was not the most humane. The flock and I were anything but innocent. We have blood on our hands. But never have ever killed in cold blood. Max especially never killed anyone in the way that I was about to kill Clarke. I wondered, if I went down this path, could I still face Max. Would she forgive me for killing in cold blood to protect her?

Probably not.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a deep breath. I was not about to become a monster to deal with Clarke. Not for him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drop you right now." I said slowly. Clarke watched with amused eyes. I wondered if this idiot realized the situation he was in at the moment. We were hovering thousands of feet in the air. If released his collar he would probably die mid fall from mere shook. A smirk stretched across Clarke's face and he grabbed my shoulders with his meaty hands and brought his face real close to my right ear.

"I have—none." He whispered. Clarke threw his head back and began laughing. "Hahaha, how you amuse me, _Fang_. If it were Max in your shoes she wouldn't have hesitated to drop me right away. THAT is the difference between a perfected experiment like Maximum Ride and a pathetic failure like you. Maximum can turn off these _disgusting_ human emotions of love and guilt and sorrow. YOU on the other hand cannot." He tsked, chuckling at his own explanation. There was no fear in Clarke eye's now. He looked as arrogant and confident as he did back in his office.

"I know you cannot kill me Fang. You'd regret it too much. You fear your own primal instinct too much…and now I see that the truth has left you speechless. You truly are a hopeless failure aren't you?" He shook his head with faux sympathy. I guess it was finally my turn to talk.

"Pft—HAHAHAHA," I laughed harder than I ever had in my life. I laughed so hard that I had tears rolling out of my eyes. I bet if Iggy saw me right now he'd go into shock. "That is the biggest bullshite I've ever heard in my life!"

"W-what are you talking about?" He stammered. I laughed even harder. I couldn't believe how confused Clarke actually appeared by all this.

"Either you are just plain dumb or you're just the worst evil scientist we've ever faced." I chuckled as the laughter finally died down to a coherent level. "Max can be an emotionless beast? Don't make me laugh. I've never met a more emotional, mood swing changing, dramatic and fierce girl in my life!"

"Maybe there was a time that Max could turn her emotions off on a command. But the Max right now…she can't do that. And you know what the best part is? It's all your fault!" I snickered.

"What do you mean?"

"You're _precious_ little daughter not only delayed your plans to capture Max by nine months, she also caused Max to erase her memories. Max the Beast is no longer. And it's all thanks to you, I'm afraid you dug your own grave this time buddy." I explained without sympathy. I watched realization dawn on Clarke face and I swear I heard the sound of shattering glass in the background. Though that just might be my imagination.

"No….NOOOO!" Clarke shouted into the skies and viciously struggled against my grip.

"Stop—I'm gonn- drop—you!"I hissed and tried get a firm grip on him.

"I WILL HAVE MAXIMUM RIDE! YOU WILL NOT DENY ME HER BODY!" Clarke shouted at the top of his lungs. I raised an eye brow.

"Oh really?" I smirked and let go. Clarke tumbled downwards like a doll whipped by the wind. I hovered for a moment longer and when his body became the size of a blond speck, I made a sharp turn and began my fly back to the Lab. I still had some children to save after all. Starting with Iggy…

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**Don't think this is the end, because I promise you it's not. Here's a hint: Edward Clarke is not the enemy they should be the most worried about. **

**Review, review, review!**

**Kiki1770**


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